


Of Heaven and Hell

by dyoityourself



Series: Heaven and Hell SKZ [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Angel!Felix - Freeform, Angel!Hyunjin - Freeform, Angst, Demon!Changbin, Enemies to Lovers, Guardian Angels, Guardian Demon, Heaven & Hell, Hostage Situations, Humor, Intricate Plot, Love, M/M, Magic, Polyamory, Secrets, Supernatural Elements, Violence, demon!Jisung, demon!chan, demon!jeongin, evil!changbin, human!minho, human!seungmin, im already alluding to much, or are they?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2020-10-19 09:28:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 51,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20654954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyoityourself/pseuds/dyoityourself
Summary: Minho: The unlucky chump who got assigned a guardian demon instead of an angel to protect him, oh, and did he mention a psycho demon is out to get him?Jisung: The unlucky demon who got assigned a random ass human to protect, why is that his job?Seungmin: Just a human trying to do his best, life was going great--until his own guardian angel Hyunjin gets kidnapped, but they'll get him back, right?Hyunjin: . . . Lets just hope he's still aliveChan: King of Hell, don't worry, he's not thaat scaryJaehyun: Leader of the angels, definitely not into a certain King, not at all . . .Jeongin: Everyone underestimates the maknae demon, but don't worry, he's got some tricks up his sleeveFelix: //sighs in angel// he deserves betterChangbin: Where did he go wrong?





	1. Welcome to Hell

**Author's Note:**

> This is it my dudes, I've been tossing this story idea around in my head for years, and now I'm finally writing it! I cannot say how excited I am for this story, and I hope you all enjoy it too!!  
Also, skz are amazing :')  


**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Minho gets a surprise admirer--and by admirer I do mean a psycho demon is out get him

Minho was trying hard to focus, he really was, but Jisung seemed to have other ideas. The demon was making the lights above him flicker, causing a few other students in the library to look at them strangely, baffled as to why only one light was having a rave party.

Minho sighed in exasperation, looking up to glare at Jisung, who was currently seated on top of the table, smile innocent as his finger did a dance, every time it moved, the lights flickered.

“Don’t you have anywhere else to be?” Minho bit out. A group of girls strode by, giggling as they ogled at Jisung. Yeah sure, Jisung was hot, Minho guessed. If you were into the cocky, chipmunk type. Jisung winked back at the girls, smug smile on his face. They hid their laughter behind hands as they quickly shuffled away.

“No,” Jisung replied simply, switching tactics to make Minho’s pencil move on his own accord. Already, the demon had caused multiple spelling errors on his lab report. “Not since the Big Guy caught me partying in Seoul when you were in trouble. He ruined all the fun, really.” Jisung said absently, chuckling when he caused Minho to draw a straight line across his entire report. “Though this is fairly entertaining as well.”

“Jisung!” Minho growled in annoyance, “This is _pen_, do you know what that means?” He paused, though the smug smile never left Jisung’s face. “It _means_ I can’t erase that, and I’m going to have to start _all over_.”

“Not my problem.” The demon said, hopping down from the table. “I’m bored, why are you always in the library? Can’t we go to a club or something?”

Minho rolled his eyes, “Maybe we could if I had all my homework done, but oh yeah—I don’t because someone keeps fucking it up!”

Jisung gave a petulant groan. “Can we at least get out of the library? If I have to follow you everywhere, can’t it be somewhere fun?”

That lit an idea in Minho’s head. The human perking up instantly, “In fact, there is one place we can go.” The demon’s face lit up, hovering close to Minho as he started packing up his things.

“Is it the club? Is it a bar? Are we going shopping? You know how I love shopping.” The demon wouldn’t’ shut up, and Minho wouldn’t tell him where they were going as they walked down the street. They were lit only by streetlamps that lined either side of the path, each light flickered when they walked past. Jisung was looking up at the flickering lights with a frown, though Minho didn’t know why. It was obviously his demonic energy that was sending them into chaos.

Minho quickly took a left turn when Jisung started to go right.

“Why are you going that way? The city is this way.” Jisung said, hooking his thumb in the opposite direction.

Minho shrugged, “I’m not going to the city.”

“Oh no,” Jisung breathed as he realized the direction Minho was taking. It was the usual path that lead towards Seungmin’s dorm.

“Don’t tell you you’re going to _their _place.” Jisung spat out in disgust.

“Yup!” Minho gave the demon a shit-eating grin as Jisung lagged behind.

“No,” Jisung whined, throwing a fit like a toddler, and to think he was over a hundred years old. “I’m not going if that _angel_ is there.” He spat the word “angel” like it was the foulest curse.

“He most likely is!” Why didn’t he think of this sooner? Going to Seungmin and Hyunjin’s place was the foolproof way to get rid of the annoying demon. Jisung hated to spend any time with Hyunjin, claiming the angel was too bright. That he made Jisung want to stab his own eyes out at the sheer brightness the angel radiated. Minho didn’t see the problem.

“Well I’m not going!” Jisung yelled after Minho, who was almost out of earshot.

“Okay, goodbye!” He sing-songed, turning the path leading to the entrance of the dorms. _Finally, some peace and quiet._

~

Their door was never locked. Minho didn’t know if it was because they were unafraid of someone barging in, or if they were just careless. He pushed the door open to find the two watching something on Seungmin’s laptop, currently sprawled out on Seungmin’s bed on their stomachs. The two laughed at whatever they were watching, and Minho’s heart gave a little pang of jealousy. Why couldn’t he have been assigned a guardian angel instead? He bet they were a lot less annoying than having a demon would be.

He wasn’t even sure how that happened. Everyone else who had a guardian had an angel assign to them, but Minho? No, he’d been the unlucky champ that got stuck with a demon. When he’d complained to Jisung about it, Jisung only shrugged his shoulders. “Clerical error, I guess.” The demon said, never elaborating. Minho doubted the demon even knew anything. He hated the arrangement just as much as Minho did.

The two startled when Minho accidently slammed the door behind him in annoyance. Seungmin pulled out an earbud. “Oh, hyung!” He smiled at the other. Hyunjin’s eyes narrowed, looking around as if expecting something. Minho didn’t need to guess who.

“Is _he_ here?” Hyunjin asked, contempt not hidden from his voice.

“Nope!” Minho said happily, Hyunjin’s expression did a complete 180, bright smile adorning his face. Minho resisted the urge to squint in its wake, perhaps Jisung did have a point. That was one awfully bright smile…

“Sorry, I just needed a quiet place to finish my homework.” He plopped down on the ground, making himself comfortable, already knowing the other two wouldn’t mind.

“Trouble in paradise?” Seungmin teased, Hyunjin cackling next to him.

Minho rolled his eyes, “If by paradise, you mean the eternal burning flames of Hell, then yes.”

“I don’t know how you got assigned a _demon_ to protect you.” Hyunjin all but spat out.

Minho shrugged, “Beats me.” He was tired of thinking about it. He just wanted to finish some homework.

Thankfully the two stopped pestering him with questions, going back to watch whatever, as Minho rewrote his lap repot. It was going well—until the lights started to flicker.

Minho’s head whipped up, suffering from PTSD of light flickering. He looked around for Jisung, of course the demon would find a way to still mess with Minho.

The flickering went on for a minute longer before the lights shut off all together.

“What the—” Seungmin said, phone flashlight turning on not long after.

Minho frowned, was it actually just a power outage?

Not a second later their phones went off. It was a message from their school, saying there was a sudden power outage and for everyone to remain calm until they got the power back up.

Minho was about to breath out a sigh of relief, when a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. He yelled in surprise, whipping around to shine his own flashing right into Jisung’s face.

The demon immediately brought his hands up to shield his eyes, “Jesus, Minho! It’s just me!”

“Don’t do that!” Minho said lowering his phone a little. He couldn’t count the times he’d told Jisung to stop appearing out of thin air. It made Minho jump every damn time.

“Nice of you to show up.” Hyunjin’s biting voice came from the other side. Jisung glared back, the two having a silent showdown. Eventually, Jisung scoffed,

“I have a bad feeling about this, we have to leave, _now_.” Jisung’s eyes bore into Minho’s. Minho was ready to call the other out on disrupting his studying again, but there was something in the way Jisung was looking at him. It was rare for the demon was serious, but in this moment, his gaze shone in severity, it made Minho gulp.

“Scared of a little power outage?” Hyunjin sneered, Jisung glowered, his eyes seemed actually to light in flames.

“It’s not a normal power outage, it’s—” Jisung froze. Minho could feel him tense up next to him. The demon’s face going slack. He heard a muffled sound right outside the door, maybe a voice? But he couldn’t make out what it had said. Any way it wasn’t uncommon to hear people talking in the hallways. They were in a dorm after all.

“We’re too late.” Jisung breathed, face strangely pale. The door burst open not a second later.

~

“Ah, here he is.” An all too familiar voice came from the other side of the door. Jisung froze, it was a voice he often heard in his nightmares. A voice he didn’t think he’d hear ever again. His mind screamed at him to get them out of there _now. _If it was who he knew it was, him showing up was by no means a good sign, but his body wouldn’t move. Perhaps a part of Jisung still wanted to see him, even after everything.

The door burst open, and the devil walked in. Changbin grinned, his hair slicked back meticulously, dressed in a pressed black suite like he’d just attended a fancy ball. Jisung would know, they had gone to quite a few together before—

“Jisung! Fancy meeting you here. And here I thought I’d never get to see you again.” Changbin pouted, clearly for show.

Hyunjin gasped, “It can’t be—” He immediately pulled Seungmin behind him.

“Changbin—” Jisung chocked out, the name felt like ash in his mouth.

“No need for _that,_ boys.” Changbin took a few steps towards the group, Jisung reaching out to grasp at Minho’s wrist, perhaps a little too tightly.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to catch up some other time. I’m just here for him and I’ll be on my way.” Changbin landed his gaze on Minho, the latter glanced sideways at Jisung, fear all too evident in his chocolate eyes.

“Like hell you’re getting him.” Jisung spat out. His grip on Minho never ceasing, if anything, he only held on tighter.

Changbin’s grin dropped, he sighed. “Jisung, Jisung, always making things so much harder than they have to be.” The devil materialized a knife out of thin air, flipping it in the air with practiced ease as he came closer. Jisung desperately tried to teleport them out of there, but for some reason his powers weren’t working. He looked at Changbin in shock, if he’d gotten powerful enough to control other’s abilities—

Changbin chuckled, “Come on Sung, we all know you’re not too fond of being a baby sitter anyways, so why don’t you just hand him over?”

“_Don’t let anyone get to him, Jisung. I’m ensuring his safety to you. If he gets into the wrong hands. It’s over for all of us.” _Chan’s words were ringing in his head. He didn’t know why Minho was so important to protect, but he knew Chan wouldn’t mess around with responsibility. He knew the King of Hell was nothing if not sincere in his words, and Jisung trusted him with his life.

There was no way in Hell he was letting Changbin take Minho.

Changbin must have seen Jisung’s resolution, his eyes hardened to full black. “Alright, if you insist on being stubborn, then I’ll have to resort to plan B.” Changbin was fast, so fast that Jisung could barely track his movements. The next thing they knew, he was holding a struggling Hyunjin in a headlock, knife poised and ready to slash.

Seungmin cried out, Minho reached out to pull the human back.

Hyunjin thrashed, his eyes turning the bright blue of heavenly light. It was obvious he was using everything in his power to get away, and yet, Changbin was hardly struggling. His grinned turned maniacal. He pressed the tip of the knife into Hyunjin’s neck, the latter letting out a gasp as the angel blade drew from him silver blood, the blood of angels.

Changbin brought the tip of the knife to his own mouth, tongue sliding across the blade to have a taste. His eyes burned with fire, and he sighed in content. Angel blood was like a drug to demons, not only did it give them a feeling of euphoria, but it also strengthened their powers. There was nothing quite like angel blood. Any low life demon would love to get their hands on an angel to boost their strength, but someone already as powerful as Changbin with angel blood? That wasn’t good, far from it.

God knew he’d already taken enough of it.

“Get a good look, for this may be the last time you see him. Unless you comply to my demands.” He brought up a single finger to Hyunjin’s forehead, Jisung only managed to yell out in warning, but it was too late. The angel went slack in Changbin’s hold, and the two vanished from sight.

~

  
“He took Hyunjin.” Seungmin said, slumping to the floor in shock. Minho sank down next to him.

“Hey, Minnie, it’s alright. We’ll get him back.” He said, rubbing what he hoped was a soothing hand on Seungmin’s back. The younger was trembling beneath him. “Won’t we, Jisung?” Minho looked at the demon, though he seemed to be fighting an internal battle. He didn’t know why that demon would want him, didn’t know why he was important enough to take an angel hostage over. Minho was a nobody; it was probably why they gave him a demon to protect him in the first place.

Jisung looked at the two on the floor with hard eyes, this serious Jisung scared Minho. The demon was usually cocky, whiny when he didn’t get what he wanted. This was a complete 180, he suddenly had a sinking feeling that he didn’t, in fact, know the demon at all.

“I need to talk to Chan.” Jisung said, jaw clenching. Minho grabbed his arm before he could leave.

“Jisung, what’s going on? Why was that demon after me? Why did he take Hyunjin?” Thousands of questions flew around Minho’s mind like a whirlwind. He opened his mouth to ask more, but Jisung beat him too it.

“I can’t leave you here. You’ll have to come with me.” Jisung pulled Minho to stand upright.

“We can’t leave Seungmin here alone.” Minho snapped, pulling out of the demon’s grip to drop back down to cradle the crying boy. He knew how much Hyunjin meant to Seungmin. Hyunjin was all he had in the world, asides from Minho himself.

“Fine then, he’ll come with us.” Jisung seemed distracted, his pacing wasn’t helping Minho’s raising anxiety at all.

“Don’t worry Minnie,” Minho said, “We’ll get him back. I know we will.”

~

“Is this—an elementary school?” Minho questioned. He wasn’t sure where they had teleported to, but wherever it was, it was daytime, unlike the dark night they had left. Little girls with their blonde hair tied up in pigtails ran past them laughing.

Jisung paid them no heed, making his way over to a door in the side of the wall. Minho and Seungmin were too stunned to move, simply staring at the kids on the playground.

Jisung sighed, “Come on.” He called impatiently. The two boys hurried to catch up.

Jisung pulled the door labeled, “Maintenance” open, the door glowing faintly at his touch. He slipped in, the two humans peeking in after him. Minho couldn’t make out what was on the other side, it was too dark, but there were faintly burning lamps hanging all along what appeared to be a long hallway with no end in sight. Definitely _not_ a maintenance closet.

“The entrance to Hell is—at an elementary school?” Seungmin’s voice was void of much emotion, it worried Minho, since he was usually bright with energy. Jisung’s hand reached out to yank Minho in, who in turn grabbed Seungmin who only barely managed to slip through before the heavy door closed behind them.

“’Sup Gyeom.” Jisung nodded towards someone Minho hadn’t even noticed in the corner. The demon, was entirely red, curving horns poked out of his head. His eyes were a bright gold color, a striking contrast to his red skin. The demon narrowed his eyes at a gawking Minho and Seungmin. “Don’t worry, they’re with me.” Jisung said, pushing the humans in front of him and down the dimly lit hallway.

The hallway seemed to never end. Minho wasn’t sure if they’d been walking for 10 minutes, or an hour. The grey cobbled walls never deviated from their monotonous pattern as they walked. Occasionally they’d pass other—creatures, as Minho was only able to describe them. They would sniff and sneer at the two humans, but Jisung would growl back and they’d hurry on their way. Minho fleetingly wondered just how high up Jisung was in Hell’s hierarchy. Every creature they passed seemed to be afraid of him, or at least respectful enough to keep their distance. No one touched them as they made their way along the hallway of Hell.

“Are we almost there?” Minho asked after some time, the three of them thus far walking in a tense silence.

Jisung grunted in affirmation, and soon enough, the hallway opened up to a great cavern. There were countless wooden bridges that spanned from one end of the cavern to the other. All of them at various heights and thickness. Creatures surrounded them from all sides, Minho couldn’t help but stare at some of the stranger looking ones. Some with long tails oozing slime behind them, others with three legs, 10 arms, dog looking creatures that were 10 times the normal dog size. All of whom stopped to gawk at the humans as they passed. Jisung snarled at each and every one in warning.

There was a notable heat that surrounded them, as they made their way over a particularly wide wooden bridge, Minho chanced a peek over the railing, to see enormous fires burning from the pits. The gulped, the reverberating heat causing instant trickles of sweat to slide down his forehead. Jisung’s strong grip on his shoulder made him jump.

“Don’t look too closely, you might fall in.” The demon said, though there was not an ounce of his normal teasing anywhere in his voice.

The bridge led them down yet another hallway, much like the one they had emerged from, but to Minho’s relief, a sharp left turn led them to a cavernous room. Minho and Seungmin looked around in awe. There was no ceiling, from what Minho could tell, only a vast darkness above them. The walls were grey, matching the grey of the hallways. Rather bleak, but what did he expect from Hell? The same dimly lit lamplights lined the walls.

There wasn’t much furniture in the room. A fireplace as tall as a house burned brightly on one wall, the smell of smoke invading Minho’s nostrils causing him to cough. There were a few couches haphazardly placed around the fireplace. A head popped up from the other side of one couch.

“Hyung!” A demon called, immediately jumping up to run to Jisung. His skin was a dark blue, his black cat slit eyes burned in excitement, as if there was actual fire burning through them. Minho was starting to think it was real flames, and not just a figment of his imagination.

Jisung gave the demon a surprisingly warm look, one Minho had never in a million years think Jisung was capable of making.

“Hi Jeonginie,” He said ruffling the demon’s black hair. The demon preened under Jisung’s touch like he’d been starved of it.

“I was beginning to think I’d never see you again.” Jeongin frowned, big gleaming eyes trained on Jisung, who had flinched at his words.

_“And here I thought I’d never get to see you again.” _Minho remembered the devil—Changbin’s voice a little too clearly.

“You never come down to visit anymore.” Jeongin continued, butting his head against Jisung’s palm like a cat when he’d stopped petting him.

“Sorry, Innie. You can blame that on the King.” Jisung sighed, “Where is he anyways?”

Another demon materialized out of thin air, causing Seungmin and Minho to jump. The demon’s almost white hair was a stark contrast to his black skin, lined in silver markings. Minho couldn’t make out what any of the symbols adorning his skin were, but they looked relatively demonic. Almost like demonic tattoos. Though perhaps the most impressive, were the enormous pair of greased looking black wings protruding from his back.

They all blinked at each other. Minho and Seungmin staring openly at the new demon, while the demon had his eyes trained on Minho, who gulped at his intense stare.

The demon loosened up suddenly, eyes looking up as his wings rippled behind him. “Pardon me,” he said flicking his fingers towards his head, a golden crown materialized on top of his fluffy white hair. “Perhaps this will shed some light on who I am?”

Jisung rolled his eyes, “Classy, Chan.”

The winged demon—Chan—shrugged, the crown disappearing again. “I always like an excuse to wear it.” He gave a wink at the humans, who gawked at his sudden change in demeanor.

“Now, as much as I _like_ having visitors, would someone like to inform me as to why two humans are in my throne room right now?” Chan flitted his hard gaze on Jisung, wings bristling behind him. Jisung shrunk a little at the look.

“You know I wouldn’t have brought them here if it wasn’t an emergency.” Jisung began. They watched what seemed to be a silent battle going on between the two demons. Minho spared at glance at Jeongin, but the demon looked bored. He caught Minho’s stare and shrugged.

“It’s Hyunjin—my guardian angel. He was taken.” Seungmin spoke up, surprising everyone.

Chan blinked, “And why would an angel be of my concern?” The demon quirked an eyebrow at Seungmin, who shrunk back into Minho’s side.

“It’s not so much the angel as it is who took him.” Jisung sighed, running a hand through his hair. “It’s Changbin.”

Chan’s head whipped back towards Jisung eyes wide in surprise. His wings flapped behind him, stirring up some dirt on the floor. Forming a tiny tornado that ran past their feet.

“That would explain the spike in demonic activity lately in the human realm.” Chan said, starting to float up off the ground. “And you’re sure it was him?”

Jisung nodded, “It was definitely him, hyung.” His voice was small, almost vulnerable. Minho had never heard him sound like that before. I involuntarily made his heart squeeze.

“And he took an angel?” Chan asked. At Jisung’s nod, the King of Hell cursed, “That isn’t good. Who knows what he’ll do with an angel in his grasps. I need to tell Jaehyun.” With no further ado, he quite literally screamed into the void above them, “JAEHYUN, GET YOUR FEATHERY ASS DOWN HERE, WE HAVE A SITUATION.”

Minho and Seungmin winced at the sheer decimal of his voice, his words booming around them. Jisung rolled his eyes, mumbling something about being dramatic. Jeongin only clapped in delight.

The wind started picking up in the chamber around them, almost as if the tiny dust tornado from before had turned into a rather real one. Chan looked impatient as the wind grew in strength around them. Seungmin and Minho gripped onto each other for dear life.

A flash of blinding white could be seen through the whirling winds, a flap of wings perhaps, but Minho couldn’t tell for sure. It wasn’t until a smirking face popped out of the whirlwind that the strong gusts ceased entirely. A rather ethereal looking being floated down to join them.

Minho and Seungmin stared, slack jawed at the new being who seemed to radiate light. Jeongin hissed, coming to hide behind the humans. Minho and Seungmin were too shocked to be worried about a demon seeking shelter behind them.

Jaehyun looked only at Chan the entire time. “What’s the matter demon boy, is your stapler jammed again? You know you can’t keep calling me for every little problem you have.” The angel, for that was the only thing such a being could be, poked the King of Hell in the cheek. Was it just Minho, or was Chan _blushing?_ He wasn’t sure how he could tell, considering his skin was black as ink, but somehow the blush still came through.

“That’s—not why I called you.” The King stuttered, wings flapping behind him.

“Then why—”

“Apparently one of your own has been taken.” Chan said, watching as the angel frowned in confusion.

“An angel of mine could not be taken. They are too strong, too clever for that.” Jaehyun preened defensively, white feathered wings bristling behind him.

“Jaehyun—it’s Changbin. He’s back.” Chan said in an almost apologetic tone.

Jaehyun froze, preening smile still plastered on his face. “What?” He said, voice small.

“Changbin, he took Hyunjin as a hostage.” It was Jisung who spoke up, the King was looking a little paler at the angel’s demeanor.

Jaehyun's wings raised up in a sudden show of anger, perhaps even fear. The angel’s eyes burned a bright blue, so bright Minho and Seungmin had to look away lest they burn their corneas. It was like looking at the sun.

“That son of a bitch took my angel? My Hyunjinie?” Jaehyun's wings flapped a great flap, the tornado almost stirring back up. “This is—unacceptable. How could you let his happen, Chan?” The angel flapped angrily at Chan, whose own wings seemed trying to cover himself.

“We didn’t think he was still alive!” Chan said, “There’d been no sign of him, Jaehyun, whatsoever.”

“You better fix this, Chan. I’m not letting him get another one of my angels. I _can’t_, never again.” Jaehyun's tone was harsh, but also filled with emotion Minho couldn’t categorize. Chan flinched, his eyes flickered with worry, but the look was gone quickly after Jaehyun was.

“I’ll go.” Jisung’s face was set in determination. “I’ll find Hyunjin and bring him back.”

“No, Jisung. It’s too risky. You can’t leave Minho alone.” Chan snapped.

“I can leave him with you, can’t I? You’re the King of Hell, no one would go against you.” Jisung rebutted.

“I can go—” Jeongin piqued up from the back.

“NO.” The other two demons said simultaneously, only sparing Jeongin a glance before going back to arguing. Minho and Seungmin shared a look.

“We don’t even know where he is, Jisung. What are you going to do, ransack the human realm until you find him?”

“There are other ways to find him! He’s a demon with immense power, he’s bound to attract a lot of demonic activity! We’ll just monitor the activity until we find him!”

Chan stopped, “You have a point—” The King said, briskly walking towards an impressive desk Minho hadn’t noticed before. They all shuffled their way towards him. There was a map on his desk, a map of the earth, Minho realized belatedly.

Chan’s hands were hovering over the map, eyes closed in concentration. His silver markings started to glow all across his skin. Minho stared, entranced as the glow seemed to flow like electricity through a circuit. Chan’s eyes flew open, the whites of his eyes engulfed in black.

“He’s here.” Chan said, pointing a finger towards somewhere in America. They all leaned closer to get a better look.

“Arizona?” Seungmin read aloud.

“I’ll send some of my other demon’s on the case. They’ll be informed of what has happened.” Chan said, dismissing the map with a wave of his hand.

Jisung opened his mouth to protest but Chan held up a hand to silence him. “Enough, Jisung. You’re not going and that’s final.”

“With all due respect, your—majesty?” Seungmin started, unsure. But when no one responded, he continued on, “It’s my guardian angel who’s gone missing. And I want to help find him.”

Chan laughed, though it didn’t sound like he was overly amused, “And what is a human going to do in the face of the devil? Surrounded by hordes of other demons, most likely?”

Seungmin opened his mouth, only to close it again when nothing came out.

“It’s done, and I’m not changing my mind.” Chan glanced at all of them with a hard glare, it was the first time that it had sunk in that they were looking at the King of Hell.

~

Hyunjin’s eyes fluttered open with much difficulty. His head felt like he’d been impaled by something sharp, if the piercing pain was any indication. He mindlessly lifted a hand to clutch his pounding head—but his hand’s felt so heavy, and he found they wouldn’t raise past a certain point.

Hyunjin tried to blink the fogginess out of his vision, but the room still swam around him. He felt something damp trickling down his arms. _Water?_ His fogged mind supplied, he looked down to find his wrists bound in heavy iron, angel warding sigils etched into the bands.

Hyunjin’s heart stopped, memories of how he’d gotten here attacking his brain like an infestation. Changbin, he’d known the demon once, though it felt like ages ago. Back when Changbin was nothing like he was now. Back when he was dating Hyunjin’s best friend. Though Hyunjin hated all demons who roamed the many realms, he didn’t at one point. At one point, he treated them as equals. It wasn’t their fault they were demons, just as the universe had good, they also had to have something take care of the bad.

He forced himself to focus back on his surroundings. The damp feeling he felt was actually blood, _his blood_, he realized with a whimper. He hated the sight of his own angel blood, a silver river down his forearms, smeared across his palms. He was a squeamish angel, what could he do?

The bounds on his wrists were attached to the cement floor by heavy iron chain, he tried to tug free of them, but the loss of blood and Enochian sigils only made him weaker.

He looked around him to find a few demons milling about, none paying him much attention. He vaguely caught a glimpse of what looked like silver liquid in a vial, the demon holding it with utmost care down the hallway, only to stop and bend into a 90-degree bow as a figure turned the corner. All the other demon’s stopped what they were doing to bow as well.

The figure, Hyunjin realized belatedly—for his mind was sluggish—was Changbin, the devil himself. He was still dressed in a fancy suit, sneering smile plastered onto his face. He looked so _different_ from the Changbin Hyunjin had known. That Changbin hated dressing up fancily, Hyunjin always saw the other in sweatpants and an oversized shirt. His long black bangs had always been falling into his eyes. Hyunjin use to tease him about it, asking how he ever saw anything with fringe like that.

“Ah, looks like the angel is awake.” Changbin said, reaching down to grip Hyunjin’s jaw between his fingers. Squeezing harshly until his lips were forced into a pout.

“Still so beautiful, it would be a shame to ruin that pretty face of yours, but if your _friends_ don’t meet my demands soon. It’s what I’ll be resigned to do.” Changbin sighed, moving Hyunjin’s face this way and that, teasing, while the angel tried in vain to pull away. Changbin eventually let go, after a particularly hard squeeze that Hyunjin already knew was going to bruise.

“What do you want from me, Changbin? Where have you been?” If Hyunjin was going to be kept here, he might as well get some answers from the devil. “We all thought you were dead, Felix, he—”

“Don’t talk to me about Felix.” Changbin snapped, eyes burning of angry Hellfire. Felix had always been Changbin’s weakness.

“Felix, he was sick with worry when you left, and in turn, we all were. We thought you had died, or left him for good.” Hyunjin spoke slowly, he couldn’t quite form the words as fast as he wanted. Changbin’s fists clenched at his sides.

“And then you came back, and killed all those angels, and _Felix_, he—” Hyunjin gasped as Changbin’s fist came flying to connect with his face. The angel was sent reeling backwards, head hitting the hard cement below him. The world only got that much blurrier.

“You should watch your mouth, _Jinnie_.” He spat the endearment in a way that almost broke Hyunjin’s heart. They had been good friends once. He didn’t know what had changed in his friend.

“Take him to the cells. I can’t stand seeing his face.” Changbin called to his henchmen, who immediately pulled Hyunjin up. They broke the chains from their entrapment in the cement, but without the bonds removed from him, Hyunjin could do nothing but let the demons drag him across the floor.

His consciousness was quickly leaving. The last thing he saw was Changbin holding that vial of silver liquid, and thinking fleetingly that it looked a lot like his own blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS NO WHERE NEAR THE END DON'T YOU WORRY  
Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode...  
and by that I mean stay tuned for the next chapter lol, no spoilers, sorry.  
Kudos and comments are always much appreciated!! <3
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself)


	2. Hotter than Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Hyunjin rescue mission is underway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER WARNINGS:  
\- implied rape/non-con  
\- it's only a small part though and not graphic at all I swear, but it's there

Chan wouldn’t let them leave Hell, saying they were all safer staying there than they were returning to their own dorms. No one dared to protested with the King anymore.

Jisung had led them down another set of winding hallways with the same cobblestoned grey walls. Minho was starting to get vertigo from trying to memorize where they went. Jisung had stopped at a nondescript door in the hallway. The door gave a faint glow before he pushed it open to reveal a room with two beds inside, and not much else.

“This room will only appear to us, so you don’t need to worry about locking it, or anything like that.” Jisung said as they made their way into the room. Seungmin threw himself down on the nearest bed, clearly not happy at being told to sit it out and wait for someone to rescue his guardian angel.

“You can pout all you want, but the King won’t change his mind.” Jisung didn’t sound any happier than they felt. “I don’t like it as much as you guys, but you don’t mess with Chan. It’s just not wise. Trust me, _I know_.”

The demon turned to leave, glancing at Minho once before he left. Minho didn’t quite work up the courage to ask him to stay. He felt a lot safer when Jisung was with them, but now with the demon gone, he felt oddly alone and—scared.

Minho was exhausted from the day’s events, and fell asleep not too long after Jisung left. His worries only making him more exhausted. It wasn’t until he heard a banging noise that he jolted upright. He didn’t know how long he’d been sleeping.

“Seungmin?” Minho called out, eyes adjusting to the dark surprisingly fast to make out a figure near the doorway. _Please dear god, let that be Seungmin. _

“Yeah, hyung, it’s me.” Seungmin said, Minho was instantly relieved.

“What are you doing?” He asked, now very awake.

“I’m getting out of here.”

“WHAT?” Minho exclaimed, “Look Seungmin, I don’t like staying in Hell as much as the next guy, but do you know what’s _out there_?” he squeaked, “Demons, and scary looking ones. With fangs and razor sharp claws, and bulging eyes like spiders—”

“I can’t just do nothing while Hyunjin is out there somewhere, in a lunatic’s hands, Minho! I just, I can’t!” The younger started hyperventilating, Minho quickly left his bed to wrap reassuring arms around the other. “What if he’s being tortured? What if they’ve hurt him? What if he’s—” the word _dead_ hung heavily unsaid in the air.

Minho squeezed Seungmin tighter. “He’s not Minnie, Changbin wouldn’t kill him. Hyunjin’s his ransom note, he needs the angel alive.”

Seungmin nodded sadly, sniffling in the darkness. “God, why is it so _dark_ in here?” He whined, “I swear demons are allergic to light or something.”

Minho cocked his head, it didn’t seem that dark to him. He could clearly see Seungmin’s face from where he was. Tear tracks running down his cheeks.

“They’ll find Hyunjin, I’m sure of it.” Minho said, trying to reassure the other. “They have to. Do you remember how angry Jaehyun looked? There’s no way he’d let anything happen to Hyunjin.” Minho said with more surety than he had felt all day.

Seungmin gasped, “You’re right, hyung! The angels! Do you think they’d hear prayers all the way from Hell?” the younger moved away from Minho’s grasp, making a seat for himself in the middle of the room. His eyes closed like the was meditating.

“Wha—” Minho began, only to be shushed by the younger. He waited quietly, for what seemed like forever, until Seungmin’s eyes opened again. He glanced hopefully around the room, but after a few minutes, he sunk down in defeat.

“I guess they d—”

A flashing light blinded them, they threw their hands up to cover their faces, only daring to look when the light died down. A boy stood in the center of the room, glowing faintly in the darkness. The boy’s nose scrunched up in distaste.

“Ew, why does it smell so musty in here? I hate Hell.” The boy breathed out in exasperation, waving a hand in front of his nose as if it would expel the moldy fumes.

The humans stared up at the figure with wide eyes. The boy stared back. He didn’t look very intimidating, asides from the faint glowing light that encompassed him, he seemed normal. He looked like any other human.

“Are you the one that called me?” The boy said, pointing at Minho. Minho shook his head, pointing over at Seungmin, who looked like a dear in headlights when the boy redirected his gaze to him.

“I heard your prayer.” The boy said, smiling down at Seungmin reassuringly, “I’m a friend of Hyunjin’s. He is your guardian angel?” Seungmin nodded.

“I’m Felix. I’m actually glad you called.” The boy, Felix, was buzzing with worry. “I already had a feeling that something was wrong, but when Jaehyun came back all worked up and _worried_—you must understand, the angel’s always calm and collected, he’s never _worried_. And he wouldn’t tell me what was wrong—”

“It’s Hyunjin.” Seungmin cut into the angel’s rambling, and proceeded to fill the angel in on what had happened. Felix’s expression only grew more and more grim.

“You said he’s somewhere in Arizona?” Felix said, starting to pace around their room, “Perhaps if you came with we could track him down using your connection—”

“I’m in.” Seungmin said without hesitation, standing up eagerly. Minho stuttered, protests at the tip of his lips.

“Great, let’s go.” Felix reached out to grab a hold of Seungmin, but Minho weaseled his way in between the two, creating a human barrier.

“Now wait just a minute!” Minho began, “We were told going on this rescue mission was extremely dangerous, we’re just humans, what can we do?”

Felix eyed Minho, silently appraising him. “Well, I’m not sure who you are, but you don’t have to go.” Felix said.

“I’m his best friend, and I don’t think you two have clearly thought this through.” Minho said in exasperation.

“What’s there to think through, hyung? Hyunjin is in trouble, and I have to find him. I can’t live without him. I really can’t.” And curse Seungmin’s small voice, it made Minho want to give him whatever he wanted just to make the younger smile again.

Minho groaned, “Are you really going to do this?” He asked the younger, who nodded determinedly back at him.

“I have to.” Seungmin said, voice quiet.

“No, you don’t.” Minho said softly, “There’s other, more qualified people out there who can.”

Felix snapped impatiently, “I know I’m an angel and all, but my patience doesn’t run that high. Are you coming or not? I have a best friend to rescue with or without you.”

Seungmin glanced from the angel to Minho’s pleading eyes, “Please stay.” Minho said.

“Hyung—come with me.” Seungmin said instead. Minho shook his head,

“I can’t Minnie. I want to save Hyunjin too, trust me. But if he’s with Changbin, then I—”

Seungmin’s face fell before steeling over, “You’re right hyung, you’re more important than Hyunjin. Don’t come.” His harsh tone bit into Minho’s heart like paper cuts. Seungmin ignored his hurt look as he shoved Minho out of the way. “I’m going to save my guardian angel.”

And with that, the two were gone in a flash of light. Minho crouched to the floor, left to cry by himself in the darkness.

~

Jisung couldn’t ignore it anymore. The nagging worry he’d been feeling through his guardian bond quickly gave way to extreme sadness, causing Jisung to gasp at the amount of pain he felt. He almost started tearing up himself at the wave that crashed over him.

Without really thinking about it, he teleported himself into Minho’s room, only to find the other in a ball on the floor. Sobs echoing through the room.

Jisung cursed, he sucked at being reassuring. He never knew what to do when people were crying, and he’d never seen Minho so sad before. Usually the human was annoyed with him, sometimes even amused, which was when Jisung felt his best. He didn’t _want_ to be a nuisance to the human, but he couldn’t help it. He blamed his demonic genes for that.

“Hey, uh, Minho?” Jisung called out, crouching next to him awkwardly. He went to place a hand on Minho’s back, like he’d seen the other do to comfort Seungmin so many times. To his surprise, Minho latched onto him first. Practically barreling into the demon as he sobbed into his shirt. Ugly sobs that pained Jisung ears as well as his heart, though he couldn’t fathom why. The demon froze as Minho clung to him. Never had they ever been so close before, physically, or emotionally. Sad to think the time they could bond was over tragedy. Speaking of—

“Where’s Seungmin?” Jisung asked, but it only made Minho sob harder. Jisung started to panic. “What happened? Did someone take him?”

Minho nodded into his shirt, Jisung tensed instantly. _Shit, another kidnapping?_

Minho mumbled something unintelligible into his already soaked shirt.

“What was that?” Jisung asked.

“It was an angel.” Minho said again, though his voice was only barely audible.

“An angel? Hyunjin?” Jisung asked despite himself. He knew it wasn’t plausible, and if it had been the angel, why was Minho crying so much?

“I should—have gone with him.” Minho spoke between hiccupping sobs. Jisung subconsciously patted him on the back. Unbeknownst to him the soothing effect it had on the other.

“Minho, what happened?” So Minho relayed the events that took place, Jisung tensing at his words.

“An angel took a human with him? To fight Changbin?” Jisung couldn’t believe his ears, they were angels for crying out loud, and Seungmin was Hyunjin’s charge, didn’t they have any sense of protection over him?

Minho shook his head, “I don’t know, Sung,” And Jisung’s heart stuttered, Minho had never called him by anything other than his full name before, but why the hell did a mere nickname make him feel a certain way? “Somehow I don’t think Changbin is really what they’re going after.”

It suddenly made sense, Jisung cursed himself for not thinking of this before. “They’re only going to rescue Hyunjin aren’t they, they don’t care about what happens to Changbin, or if he gets away.”

Minho’s sniffles died down, Jisung unconsciously relaxing more now that Minho had stopped sobbing. The human blew his nose into Jisung shirt.

“Ew, okay. That was unnecessary.” Jisung said, but he patted Minho’s back anyways. “I need to tell Chan what’s going on.” Jisung stood up to leave, but Minho grabbed onto the hem of his shirt, teary eyes gazing up at him.

“Don’t leave me.” He said so softly Jisung wasn’t sure if he heard right. His heart gave another stutter at the other’s expression. _Fuck, I can’t leave him now._ He held out his hand for the human to take.

“Come with me then, I won’t leave your side.”

~

A familiar nagging voice kept creeping at the back of Hyunjin’s mind. It was eventually what he woke up from hearing. Even more out of it than before with the amount of blood he was still losing, he blinked awake to see bars in front of him. _Cell_, he was in a cell. The iron bars enclosing him from freedom.

Something kept waving frantically across the hall, Hyunjin didn’t have any strength left to move. He only blinked harder, trying to make out what was moving. He kept hearing his name being called. A screamed whisper. He looked around dazedly, “God?” He called.

“I’m not God, you idiot! Hyunjin! It’s _me_.” The voice was pleading, and sounded so, so familiar. It tugged on Hyunjin’s heartstrings, as well as his fear. He squinted into the darkness, eyes finally adjusting well enough that he could make out the face of the waving figure.

“Changbin? Why are you behind bars?” Hyunjin asked. He couldn’t fathom why the devil would put himself behind bars. Hyunjin chuckled at the thought, immediately groaning in pain that the laughing caused.

“Oh God, Hyunjin, what has he done to you?”

Hyunjin didn’t know why he was suddenly talking in third person. “You did this to me, remember?” Hyunjin stated, in case the devil forgot. _Maybe he has short-term memory. Like Dori. _The thought reminded him of the time Seungmin had forced him to watch _Finding Nemo_ with him, the memory caused a wave of sadness that dumped over him, leaving him sputtering in its wake. _Seungmin,_ Hyunjin’s heart clenched. He may never get to see the boy again_. Seungmin, My Seungminie_.

“Hyunjin! _Listen to me_!” Changbin was still whisper screaming, Hyunjin didn’t know why he didn’t just speak normally. “He’s not me, I’m not him! It’s a shapeshifter demon, Hyunjin! A shapeshi—” His voice abruptly cut off when the sound of a door banged open. Not too long after, a pair of demons came strolling towards Hyunjin’s cell. Hyunjin wanted to cower away, to crawl into the darkest corner so they couldn’t see him. He was an angel for heaven’s sake, he was an almighty guardian angel on top of that. He shouldn’t be so weak; no one should see him so weak. So—

“Look, how pathetic, he can’t even move!” One of the demons said, jabbing the other demon in the ribs.

“Ow, how many times have I told you to _quit doing that_!” The 2nd demon said rubbing his ribs agitatedly.

The 1st demon ignored him, “Do you think the boss would mind if we had a little taste of his blood?”

The 2nd demon rolled his eyes, “Of course he would mind, you imbecile!” The 1st demon looked dejected. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t try!”

The 1st demon clapped giddily, Hyunjin was vaguely aware of what was about to transpire, but was helpless to protect himself.

“Hey! Low lifers!” Changbin’s voice rang through the cells, the two demons twisting on their heels to face the other.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the _boss_ himself.” The 2nd demon said with a sneer.

“If you drink his blood, you’re forgetting that there’s a witness here.” Changbin’s voice was rougher around the edges than what Hyunjin had remembered.

“Huh, you’re right. Maybe we should just kill you first, eh?” the 1st demon banged on the cell bars, causing Hyunjin’s ears to ring.

“Try to kill me, if you dare.” Hyunjin heard a squeaking sound, like a rusty door hinge, and then hissing, but he couldn’t see what was happening. Muffled grunts and sounds of harsh kicks reverberated across the hall towards him. He wasn’t sure who was beating up who. Then came the sound of skin slapping against skin. It vaguely reminded Hyunjin of something, but he shivered at the ghost of a thought. Hyunjin curled up into himself further, whimpering. Trying to block out the all too familiar screams and horrid sounding moans that echoed from across the hall.

~

Seungmin would never get used to being teleported around places. It seemed the further they teleported, the worse the outcome was. He stumbled when they blinked into existence, catching himself on the harsh dirt ground. The first thing he felt was the searing heat that prickled along his skin. He felt as though he was walking through an oven. _This is so much worse than the fiery pits of Hell. _

“Tell me about it.” Felix said, Seungmin realizing he must have said that out loud.

“You didn’t, I can just read minds.” Felix shrugged like it was no big deal. “You really hurt your friend’s feelings back there, by the way.”

Seungmin winced at the thought of Minho. He knew how horrible his words must have been, but he couldn’t help it. Why didn’t Minho see how much Hyunjin meant to him? Wouldn’t a best friend support you no matter what? Especially for a cause that meant so much to him?

Felix kicked a pebble with his food, “You really love Hyunjin, don’t you?”

Seungmin blushed, stuttering incoherently. “What do you mean? I’m not in love with him, I just care for him, as a very dear friend.”

Felix grinned, “I never said anything about being _in love_, Minnie.” And the endearment fell so naturally from his lips, for a second, Seungmin forgot that they’d just met.

Felix laughed as he started walking along. “Come on, I think I see some cars up ahead.” The two made their way silently, following along the asphalt road. Cacti and brown, dead looking bushes lined the desert landscape, but not much else. It looked so—barren. So flat he could see the mountains that loomed up all around them, miles and miles in the distance.

“I’ve never been to the desert.” Seungmin said, trying to ease the weird silence between them.

“Me neither.” Felix said. “Wait—there was that once I went to some sand dunes, but it was very different than this.”

Seungmin could swear the road starting waving the longer he stared, like there was water puddled up ahead.

“It’s a mirage.” Felix said, “Cool, huh?”

“I thought that was only a myth.” Seungmin said in awe, causing Felix to laugh.

“Ah kid, you’re so innocent.”

Seungmin bristled, “I am not. I know a lot of things.” He said, crossing his arms.

“Yeah? Like what?” Felix challenged. Many thoughts involuntarily crossed Seungmin’s mind, but he didn’t have the guts to say any of them. He blushed madly when he remembered that Felix could read his thoughts. The angel cackling loudly beside him.

“Okay, point taken. Not innocent at all.” He said with a wink.

The road eventually lead to a car stop. A gas station filled with massive semi’s and complete with a convenience store and diner nearby. Seungmin’s stomach growled when he got a whiff of food wafting form the diner.

“Hungry?” Felix asked, already making his way towards the place. Seungmin followed eagerly behind him.

Two plates of pancakes and some fake US dollars later, and Seungmin felt like he was in Heaven, munching happily on the fluffy circles of dough. He almost forgot about their mission, and then felt guilty for forgetting. Felix didn’t mention his thoughts, only watching Seungmin intently. Felix carefully cut and forked his pancake into pieces before he ate it.

“So, how are we supposed to find Hyunjin?” Seungmin asked behind a mouthful of pancake.

“Every guardian has a bond to their charge, meaning Hyunjin can feel when there’s something wrong with you.”

Seungmin nodded, he already knew that information from Hyunjin.

“Well, I’m going to try to reverse that bond, and tweak it a little, so you can feel Hyunjin as well. If it works out, you might be able to track him through the bond too.”

“So I’ll act as a compass?” Seungmin said, chewing in thought.

“Exactly! A compass that’ll lead us straight to Hyunjin, if we’re lucky.”

Seungmin nodded, “Okay, I like it! How do we begin?”

Felix scratched his head, “This is where things are a little difficult. I know the inner working of the bond, more or less, so it shouldn’t be too hard to reverse it on you. However, if we want to add the tracking into it, then I’m going to need something of Hyunjin’s.”

Seungmin cursed, “You should have told me before we teleported all the way over here! I have a million things of Hyunjin’s but they’re all back at the dor—” Seungmin gasped, remembering that he did, in fact have something of Hyunjin’s. Something the other had given him a long time ago.

He reached down, relieved to find that the ring was still there, fastened safely on Seungmin’s finger. Felix clapped his hands, “Perfect! Problem solved!”

Seungmin smiled, trying to slip the ring off his finger to put in Felix’s outstretched hand—but it wouldn’t budge. He tried tugging a little harder, but to no avail.

“Uh oh,” Seungmin examined the ring. It didn’t make sense. It wasn’t like his finger had swelled or anything, it clearly looked like the ring could slip off easily, and yet—

Felix cursed, laughing a little to himself, “That sneaky fox.”

“What?” Seungmin asked, still trying to tug the ring off.

“He must have put an enchantment on that ring. Probably to keep you safe. I’ve seen that ring before. It was his favorite back in Heaven.” Felix smiled wistfully, lost in memory.

Seungmin oddly felt like he was intruding on a moment. It was easy to forget that Hyunjin had a life before Seungmin. He never talked about it much, he remembered now he’d heard Felix’s name in passing, and perhaps even Jaehyun's too. Seungmin had asked him once why he didn’t go back to visit. Hyunjin had shook his head sadly,

“_I can’t go back Min, it’s just one of those rules. When you’re assigned to someone, you cannot go back to Heaven, you must stay in the human realm at all times_.” Seungmin never bugged him about it again after that. He couldn’t bear the sad look that had crossed the angel’s face.

Felix smiled at Seungmin sadly, clearly having read his mind. “It’s sad, but the truth. It’s only to keep the charges protected. If Hyunjin had gone back to Heaven and something happened to you while he did? That would be all on him.”

Seungmin had grown quiet, a sudden rush of sorrow came over him, empathy for someone so dear to him, someone who couldn’t see the ones he loved _because_ of Seungmin. 

Felix shook his head, “Don’t think of it like that Min, it’s by no means your fault.”

“It feels like it is.” Seungmin said, voice barely above a whisper. Felix reached over the table to place a reassuring hand over Seungmin’s, before jerking it back with a hiss.

“Ouch!” He said, cradling his hand as they both stared at the ring on Seungmin’s finger. It was glowing brightly. So brightly Seungmin covered it lest anyone else saw the weird glowing ring. They stared at each other in confusion before a wave of dizziness came over Seungmin. He teetered, head falling straight for his plate of pancakes. Felix pushed the plate aside just in time.

“Seungmin? What’s wrong?” he asked worriedly.

Seungmin struggled to see clearly, he blinked up at the other angel, but he was so fuzzy. Seungmin felt extremely lethargic. Like there wasn’t much energy left in his body at all.

Felix gasped in realization. “The bond, it’s reversed already. That ring, my touch—the touch of another angel must have activated it.”

“Hyunjin,” Seungmin breathed. If his guardian angel was out there somewhere feeling any of what Seungmin currently was, then he was in extreme trouble. Seungmin’s worst fears confirmed. As sudden as the bond came over him, it started to ebb away.

“We’ve got to get him Felix, he’s fading!” Tears started to fall from Seungmin’s eyes unbeknownst to him.

Felix’s nodded, “Can you feel where he is?”

Seungmin tried hard to feel something, anything, but other than a little bit of dizziness, he felt nothing. Felix reached over to grab hold of Seungmin’s hand again, the angel winced, the ring burning him, but he held on anyways.

“What about now?” He asked through gritted teeth. Seungmin closed his eyes, imagining a physical string that linked Hyunjin to himself. He could see vaguely, not really see, but sense where the string was pulling him. He nodded frantically.

“I can feel it! I can!”

Felix stood up abruptly, hand not leaving Seungmin’s grasp. It was obviously paining him to do so, but when Seungmin tried to tug his hand away the angel shook his head.

“It’s ok Minnie, Hyunjin is more important.”

And so, they raced out of the diner, Felix teleporting them towards the pull. _We’re coming Hyunjin, just hold on a little longer._

~

“He did _what_?” Chan asked incredulously when Jisung and Minho came to him with the news. Jesus Christ, he really couldn’t leave humans alone for _one second. _Chan raked his fingers through his hair, probably fluffing it up to untamable lengths, but that was the least of his worries right now. “Well, he’s with an angel, right? Though it was an incredibly _stupid_ thing to do, I’m sure they’ll keep Seungmin safe. There’s nothing to worry about, Minho.”

Minho scrunched his nose like he didn’t believe him.

“I just told my demons not too long ago about the mission, they should be gearing up to leave anytime now.”

“Hey, hyung, speaking of demons—where’s Jeongin?” Jisung asked.

Chan whipped his head around to look for the little guy. He was particularly soft towards their youngest demon. He was just so childlike; Chan didn’t have the heart to toughen him up to fight like the others. Asides from the fact that he _couldn’t_.

“Jeongin? He should be around here somewhere; he rarely leaves the throne room.” He flew over to the fireplace, expecting to find Jeongin sleeping on the couch, or maybe even playing in the flames, though Chan had told him multiple times _not_ to do that. The kid was like a cat; you couldn’t tell them anything.

“Jeongin?” He called out. Chan had the ability to call anyone he wanted to him, though it didn’t necessarily mean they’d come to him. Jeongin however, always responded to his calls, no matter what.

They all waited for the dark blue demon to pop up before them, but seconds ticked past, and there was no sign of the youngest.

Chan cursed, paling as the seconds ticked by, “Please don’t tell me he did what I think he did.”

Jisung bristled, “Maybe if you’d let him train with the other demons, he wouldn’t have run off like that! Maybe, he actually would have been _prepared to fight—”_

Chan was in front of a startled Jisung in a matter of second, seething as he glared at the other. He was too angry and worried right now to care all that much about Jisung’s feelings. “Don’t you dare lecture me about Jeongin, Jisung. You’re always so full of great ideas, aren’t you? Well here’s a problem for you, how are we going to get Jeongin back before he gets himself hurt, or killed?” He all but spat out in Jisung’s face. Jisung shriveled back at each harsh word.

Chan was vaguely aware of Minho hiding behind Jisung in fear. He must have looked extremely scary. Anger and fear always brought out the worst in him.

“Go find him, Jisung. I don’t care what you do. But I want him _back._”

Jisung made to leave, pulling Minho along behind him.

“Stop.” Chan ordered, the two stopping dead in their tracks. “Minho, you stay here.” He saw the frightened look the boy gave to Jisung, trying desperately to keep Jisung next to him.

“It’s okay, Min. He’ll protect you, I swear.”

“Just—come back soon, okay?” Minho said, finally letting the demon go. Jisung nodded once, before disappearing completely.

~

It was all too easy, Jeongin thought as he snuck his way through the halls of a warehouse. Thankfully, his demon form hid him quite well if he kept to the shadows, he also had a rather nondescript face. No other demon really spared him a glance as he made his way around the place, trying to find that angel, Hyunjin.

Everyone in Hell seemed to underestimate him. He knew that, but he also liked lounging around and doing nothing, so he didn’t complain too much about Chan babying him. He liked playing in the Hellfires and watching Chan’s exasperated face tell him to stop flinging fire around or he might burn one of his favorite couches.

Finding Hyunjin was almost too easy. He knew where they said he was, “_Somewhere in Arizona_.” And once he’d teleported there, he only had to ask around, casually asking demons he came across where the most demonic activity was. Most demons didn’t know what he was talking about, Changbin being loose seemed not to be common knowledge. Which was a good thing, Jeongin guessed. Eventually he’d found a demon who did know what he was talking about, though it took a little time.

“I don’t know why a little demon like you would be searching for that place.” The demon he’d asked had said, the demon must have been a desert demon, for he resembled a snake, but with arms and legs, and he even had a cowboy hat atop his slimy head. _How wonderfully Western! _Jeongin had thought with glee.

Jeongin didn’t mind prancing around the fiery heat of the desert as he headed in the direction his fellow demon had pointed him in. The desert heat felt like the fireplace in the throne room, it felt like_ home__. _Jeongin’s heart gave a sudden pang at the though. He just hoped he’d find the angel soon so he could go home and prove to Chan that he wasn’t weak, he wasn’t useless.

Jeongin poked his head around the next hallway, it seemed to be a set of stairs descending into darkness. A perfect place to keep an angel hostage. He practically pranced down the winding staircase, making sure to keep his footfalls silent. He started to hear voices growing closer to him, quickly tucking himself into an alcove off the stairs as a few demons stalked up the stairs past him. He scrunched his nose in distaste as they passed. They reeked of something, though Jeongin wasn’t sure what. It wasn’t a smell he’d ever smelt before. Almost—tangy? But musty? Jeongin shrugged. When the voices stopped being audible, he continued on with his decent.

It didn’t take much longer to reach the bottom, he found himself in a hallway, cells lining both sides. He peered into the first few, hoping to see an angel in any of them, but they were all empty.

He frowned, continuing the search, S_urely he’s got to be here somewhere—_

Not a second after he said that, he caught sight of a puddle of silver blood on the floor, _angel blood. _It was the one downfall of demons, Jeongin thought. Demons went crazy for that stuff; it was the cocaine of the underworld. Not that he knew what cocaine was, but he thought he’d heard that phrase before, somewhere in Hell.

“Hyunjin?” Jeongin called out to the figure strewn on the floor. The boy blinked up at him.

“Jisung?” He asked, and Jeongin chuckled,

“No, I’m Jeongin, nice to meet you! I’m here to rescue you!” He said happily, looking around for a key somewhere. He found one not too far down the hall. Lowlife demons weren’t the smartest, of course they’d leave the keys dangling nearby.

He pranced over to grab them, hearing something moan behind him, he whipped around ready to throw hands—but there was nothing there. He peered into the darkness of a cell, saw something move, and squealed, quickly making his way back to Hyunjin.

He shoved the key into the lock, half expecting an alarm to go off. _It can’t be this easy, right? _Turns out, it was. The cell bars opened with a little squeak, and Jeongin hurried into the cell, snapping the iron bonds around the angel’s wrists in half before placing a hand on Hyunjin about to teleport them away. A giant ruckus suddenly came down the hallway. Jeongin looked up in fright, only to spot Seungmin and a wild looking boy breathing heavily as they all stared at each other.

“Hyunjin!” Felix gasped.

“Jeongin?” Seungmin gaped.

“Friends!” Jeongin exclaimed.

“They’re right behind us, we’ve got to get out of here.” Felix motioned for Seungmin to grab his hand, the four making a loop, and disappearing right as the demon guards rounded the corner.

~

A laugh sounded from across the hall. “You’re too late.” Changbin wheezed. They could try to break him all they wanted. Hell knows he’d been enduring a lot in the year he’d been in captivity. He wondered why the shapeshifter hadn’t just killed him. It wasn’t like Changbin was worth anything anymore. He’d already stole his appearance, his powers, what more could he want?

The fake Changbin walked through his cell bars, cocking his head at the other. Changbin was only vaguely aware of his state of undress. He couldn’t bring himself to care anymore. Not after what he’d been through.

Fake Changbin crouched down, only to punch Changbin’s already bloody face. His black blood smeared all over the cell, it’s metallic scent the only thing he’d been smelling for months. His demonic powers were slowly ebbing away as he was drained of them. Soon he’d be too weak to defend himself, completely under their mercy.

“You’ll regret this.” The shapeshifter said, as if it was Changbin’s fault Hyunjin had escaped and not his own bloody carelessness. Though Changbin was grateful for said carelessness. It’s what let them get away. 

He’d heard Felix’s unmistakable voice, he’d tried to call out to the other, his heart breaking at the sight of his lover. He was _so close, _but they’d disappeared all too quickly, but almost not quick enough. He only prayed Hyunjin was conscious enough to remember that he was here, the real him.

That this fake him wasn’t him.

The shifter gripped Changbin’s throat bruisingly. Changbin struggled to get air to his lungs. “I’m going to kill them all, and they’re all going to think it was you ripping their hearts out, one by one. I’ll end with Felix, he’s your angel _lover_, right?”

Changbin growled at the shapeshifter, but was too weak to do anything to fight back.

“I’ll kill him slowly, just for you. And when his heart has almost stopped beating completely, I’ll let you run to him. But by then, it’ll be too late. And knowing it was never you all along won’t matter to a dead angel.” The shapeshifter chuckled as Changbin choked, desperately clawing at the hand around his neck.

Changbin smiled, despite everything. “Not if—they kill you first.” Changbin wheezed out, the grip on his neck tightening impossibly until his vision blacked out completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> . . . Poooor Changbin :'( Sorry I did him dirty like that, pls don't hate me too much  
Baby Changbin deserves better #justiceforchangbin2k19  
Also, check out this amazing fanart of Chan that the fabulous @Deufos42 drew for my story!! [Twitter](https://twitter.com/manis_suga/status/1173722393333780481)  
And of course, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SEUNGMIN! As a present, you got your guardian angel back, heheh  
Next chapters coming soon~


	3. A new side of you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jisung whisks Minho away from Hell for a quick break in the human realm, what could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a really long chapter bois, and it's heavily Minsung centric. You guys get a lil back story, and a Team Heaven reunion too ;)

To say they were surprised when the four of them appeared in Chan’s throne room, was an understatement. Minho squawked from his seat on the floor, scrambling towards the group when he realized just who it was.

“Seungmin, oh thank god.” Minho said, wrapping the other in his arms.

Seungmin patted his best friend’s arms around him. “Hey, hyung, you’re squishing me.” Seungmin squeaked out. Minho’s grip loosened around him.

“Oh, sorry.”

“JEONGIN.” Chan’s booming voice echoed through the room. They all watched in fearful awe as the King of Hell descended like the winged devil he was, to hovering above Jeongin. Jeongin didn’t even look scared, in fact, he looked extremely proud of himself.

“Channie, hyung!” Jeongin exclaimed, Minho chocked at the nickname.

“Did he seriously just called the King of Hell, _Channie_?” Seungmin whispered incredulously.

“Aren’t you proud, hyung? I found Hyunjin all by myself.” The demon was preening at his accomplishment. Minho turned wide-eyed towards the other two boys.

“Is it true?”

Seungmin shrugged, “He was already there when we got there.”

“Jeongin! That was extremely careless of you! Do you know what could have happened? You could have been killed! A demon with no training—”

“This demon with no training found Hyunjin in less than a day, hyung. And with little to no help, might I add.” Jeongin crossed his arms, petulant pout on his lips.

Chan glowered, “That’s not the point, Innie. You’re missing, the _point._”

“Cut him some slack!” Seungmin spoke up, “I don’t know what your problem with each other is, but this demon,” He said pointing a finger at Jeongin, “Found my Hyunjin more easily that it took 10 demons and angels combined. I’d shut up and listen to what he’s saying.”

Everyone stared at Seungmin in shock, Seungmin was breathing hard, though Minho sensed a little bit of fear was masked behind it. Chan was speechless, mouth hanging open at the outburst. Jeongin ran up to hug Seungmin.

“He’s my favorite.” Jeongin said, latching on to Seungmin’s arm. “I won’t let you hurt him, Channie hyung!”

Seungmin’s cheeks were riddled with a blush, Minho had to bite back a knowing smile as he watched the dark blue demon rub his face into Seungmin’s arm.

Felix returned his attention to the fallen angel. “He’s not going to heal well here; I need to take him back to Heaven.”

Chan waved a hand dismissively, wings flapping in agitation at the change of situation. “Go ahead, be my guest.”

Felix gave Seungmin a look, “You coming?”

Seungmin’s eyes bugged out of his head, “You mean, to _Heaven_?”

Felix smiled, “Yeah! I’m sure Hyunjin would want you there when he wakes up.” Seungmin nodded enthusiastically, trying to make his way towards the angel, but the demon at his side wouldn’t let him budge.

“Uh—Jeongin—” Seungmin began. The demon only looked at him with a pout.

“You’re leaving?” He asked, cat slit eyes wide and gleaming, Seungmin cursed, Minho chuckled, _finally he’s getting a taste of his own medicine._

“I need to make sure Hyunjin’s alright, In.” He said the endearment like it was second nature. The demon purred beside him at the name.

“Then I’m coming with you!”

“Absolutely not!” Felix and Chan said at the same time. They both looked at each other afterwards with wary eyes.

“Why not?” Jeongin whined.

“You’re a demon, you can’t come up to Heaven!” Felix said with barely hidden exasperation.

“I can if I come up with you. Don’t try to pull one over on me, hyung. I know the rules. I’m not ignorant.” Jeongin said, eyes burning with determined fire. Felix clenched his jaw, looking to Chan for some assistance. Probably the last thing the angel thought he would do.

“No, Jeongin. You’re staying here with me.” Chan said, voice terse.

Jeongin whispered something to Seungmin before he let him go. Seungmin gave the demon a questioning look before making his way over to Felix. He was about to grab his hand when he turned back to Minho. “You want to come, hyung?” Seungmin asked, and Minho knew it was a peace offering. _“Sorry I yelled at you earlier, I didn’t mean it.” _

Minho smiled, “It’s alright Minnie, go on. We’ll see each other soon. Tell Hyunjin I say hi.” Minho winked. Seungmin smiled back and gripped the angel’s hand, the three disappearing from the room.

Chan sighed loudly, “I guess Jisung’s rescue mission isn’t really necessary anymore. JISUNG! WE FOUND JEONGIN!” Chan yelled into the abyss. Minho winced yet again at the king’s booming voice.

Jisung appeared not too long after, looking clearly disheveled like he’d been attacked by angry thorn bushes in a tornado.

Minho shot to his feet, “What happened to you?”

Jisung looked warily at him, staggering a little. Minho rushed to catch him before he fell, but the demon was surprisingly heavy, and they both ended up slumping to the floor. Jeongin and Chan rushed over to the two, peering down in concern.

“I went—to the place where I tracked Jeongin.” Jisung said, spitting out black blood onto the floor beside them. “He must have been already gone by then. There were demons, so many demons.” Jisung breathed.

Chan’s wings twitched, “Oh cut the crap, Jisung, I know you’re alright.” He said, worry turning to annoyance as the demon started to chuckle below them.

Minho smacked Jisung’s arm, “Don’t _do that_!” Jisung held up his arms to protect himself.

“Then what happened to your face, hyung?” Jeongin asked curiously, coming over to poke at the very real cuts all over Jisung’s face. Jisung hissed moving his head away from the younger. His face turned stoic. Minho looked at him questioningly. Jisung sighed, mumbling something under his breath.

“What was that?” Minho said, leaning down closer to try and hear what Jisung was saying.

“Imelomtnoamacmus.” Jisung said, slightly louder. Minho and Jeongin shared a confused look.

“Hyung—” Jeongin began,

“I FELL ONTO A CACTUS, ALRIGHT?” Jisung huffed out. Crossing his arms in defense when they cackled at a him. Jeongin was laughing so hard, fire was actually leaking from his eyes. Minho was laughing until he caught sight of Jeongin leaking fire from his eyes, and then his laughing ceased a bit.

“Too bad you just missed the angels, hyung. They could have patched you right up—”

Jisung perked up at that, “Angels? Did you find Hyunjin? Seungmin?” Both boys nodded, Minho watched the relief that passed by Jisung’s eyes. _Funny, I though you hated the angel._ Minho thought, biting down a knowing smile.

“Seungmin is _mine_.” Jeongin said with conviction. Minho cackled at that, Jisung watching him in confusion.

“There was a lot you missed, Sungie. Now, let’s see what we can do about that face of yours.”

~

Seungmin wasn’t sure how long he had been in Heaven. Where Hell had no day or night, Heaven was always sunny, he had yet to see the sun set. He was starting to realize it never would.

Seungmin spent his time fluttering around Felix as he cared for Hyunjin. Not quite knowing what to do to help. He held onto Hyunjin’s hand, the bond was quiet between them, at least Hyunjin wasn’t in pain anymore.

“When will he wake up?” Seungmin asked after what seemed like days. Felix brushed Hyunjin’s bangs aside, a bout of possessiveness hit Seungmin at the action. _Hands off angel, this one is _mine.

Felix jerked his hand back, looking at Seungmin in shock. Seungmin chastised himself, forgetting that the angel could read minds.

“You sure you don’t _love_ him?” Felix sing-songed after the initial shock had worn off. Seungmin’s cheeks were painted a bright red, though if Felix noticed, he didn’t say anything. “I’m going to go talk to Jaehyun, you think you’ll be fine here on your own?”

Seungmin nodded, “It’s Heaven, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Turns out, there was a lot that could happen.

Not too long after Felix had disappeared to find Jaehyun, an oddly familiar head poked up from the doorway, nearly scaring Seungmin half to death.

“Minnie!” the boy called towards Seungmin. Seungmin had to stop himself from turning in his chair to look behind him, there must have been some sort of mistake.

“Umm do I know you?” Seungmin asked, as the boy bounded over to him. He radiated familiarity, Seungmin was _sure_ he knew who this was, and yet—

“You don’t recognize me?” The boy pouted, and it all clicked. He’d seen that pout before.

“_Jeongin_?” He asked incredulously. The demon nodded enthusiastically at his correct guess.

“Yay! I knew you’d know it was me!”

The more he looked, the more he realized it did look like the dark blue-skinned demon Seungmin had known. It was only that he looked human now, most likely to blend in with the angels in Heaven. His dark black hair stuck out that much more contrasted with his pale human skin. Seungmin found himself gawking at the transformation. Not that Jeongin _wasn’t_ cute as a demon, just—wait—what was he saying, Jeongin was cute? He blushed some more.

“You’re cute, Minnie.” Jeongin sang at Seungmin as he walked over to Hyunjin’s bedside. He gasped, “He’s beautiful.” He reached out tentatively to drag a finger down Hyunjin’s cheek. The same jealousy flared up inside of Seungmin, but for some reason, it wasn’t as intense as it was when Felix brushed his bangs aside.

“I know.” Seungmin found himself saying instead.

Jeongin glanced back at him with a grin.

“How did you even get in here, Innie?” Seungmin said, changing the subject quickly.

The demon preened under the nickname, “Heaven’s not as well guarded as you’d think.” He said with a wink. “And I’m also, _very_ clever.”

“I have no doubts.” Seungmin said sincerely, the demon was the one to find Hyunjin after all. Even before Felix and him, and all on his _own_. It was an amazing feat indeed.

A stirring sound brought Seungmin out of his thoughts. Both boys whipping their heads towards the sleeping angel. Hyunjin’s eyes blinked open. He stared up at the ceiling blankly. Seungmin scrambled out of his seat to Hyunjin’s side.

“Hyunjin—” He breathed, gripping onto the angel’s hand.

Hyunjin turned his head to look at Seungmin, smiling when he did, “Minnie.” He croaked out. Seungmin fought back tears.

“Oh my God, Jin, I’m so glad you’re alright.” Seungmin fell on top of the angel in an attempted hug, the angel grunted when Seungmin’s weight fell on top of him. He patted Seungmin’s back reassuringly.

“I’m glad you’re okay too.” He said, eyes flicking towards the other boy in the room.

“Hi again! I’m Jeongin.” Jeongin said, smiling happily at the two on the hospital bed.

“Hi—Jeongin.” Hyunjin said not quite comprehending what was going on. “Where am I?”

“You don’t recognize it? I guess it has been so long since you’ve been back.” Seungmin said, voice tight as he tried to keep his emotions at bay.

“No way,” Hyunjin breathed, finally taking in his surroundings, “I’m in—”

“Heaven!” Jeongin supplied helpfully. Seungmin gave him a side-glance.

“Does that mean, Lixie?” Hyunjin trailed off at Seungmin’s nod.

“Yeah, he’s here, Jinnie. Do you want me to call him?”

Hyunjin’s nod was small, like he was afraid of the decision, probably thinking it was too good to be true.

“FELIX! HYUNJIN WOKE UP!” Seungmin yelled through the doorway, taking one from the King of Hell himself and hoping Felix would hear him. They waited a bit, until they could hear thundering footsteps approaching them. Two disheveled figures appeared in the doorway.

“Hyunjin?” Felix breathed, him and Jaehyun stumbling in to Hyunjin’s side. The injured angel tried hastily to lift himself out of bed. Seungmin and Jeongin quickly took his sides, helping the angel sit upright.

“Oh my god, it really is you!” Hyunjin’s voice broke at the end, smile blinding as the three angels hugged in delight. Seungmin and Jeongin watching silently from the sides.

“It’s been so long,” Hyunjin sniffled, “I missed you.”

“We missed you too, Jinnie.” Jaehyun said, running a hand through his hair affectionately. Seungmin would let this one slide, though he could have sworn he heard a small growl from beside him. He glanced over at Jeongin in shock but the demon had a serene look on his face. _Huh,_ Seungmin thought.

The three were chatting excitedly, Seungmin couldn’t help but feel a little dejected, feeling like he’d been forgotten. He had to remind himself that Hyunjin hadn’t seen his friends for much longer than he’d been separated from Seungmin. It was only natural that they would want to catch up. He tugged at Jeongin’s arm.

“Come on, let’s leave them alone for a while.” The demon followed pliantly as Seungmin led them outside. No angel the wiser that their company had left.

~

It didn’t take long before the Minho realized there were no first aid kits in Hell.

“How do you guys normally patch yourselves up?” Minho asked, exasperated that he couldn’t tend to the cuts littering Jisung’s pretty face.

_Did I just say pretty?_ _My bad, I meant _horribly unattractive _face, yeah. _He thought. Jisung gave him an amused look at the blush that was most definitely spreading across his face.

“Demons’ have fast healing, don’t worry. This’ll all be gone in a matter of hours.” Jisung said gesturing to his face before plopping down on a random boulder that overlooked the Hellfires from the pit.

Minho tentatively creeped up behind him, afraid of losing his footing and falling in. “Is there anything down there?” He asked, peering slightly over Jisung’s shoulder. Jisung chose that moment to turn and look at the human. The action causing their faces to be millimeters apart. Minho gulped when neither of them backed away. He wasn’t sure how long they stayed in that position, a few seconds, or hours, but eventually Jisung turned back around.

“Only the worst of the worst are down there. Serial killer’s souls, those who’ve brutally killed anyone, anything; some politicians, you know the type.” Jisung said, “Nothing alive can survive down there, hell, the souls are barely hanging on as it is. It’s their punishment. Eternal torture in the Hellfire.”

Minho shivered at his words. If he listened closely, he thought he could hear distance screams. “I’ve got to get out of here.” Minho muttered under his breath, but his guardian demon heard.

“Wanna pop over to the human realm for a bit?” Jisung asked, mischievous smile spreading across his face. Minho stared at him with wide eyes,

“Can we? Would Chan kill us?”

“Probably, but who said he has to know?” Jisung held out a hand for Minho to take.

As—_pleasant_ as his stay in Hell had been, Minho longed to breath in fresh air. To be back in the city, surrounded by _humans_ who didn’t stare at you like you were an alien, or a full course meal. To not be afraid a giant demon snake might come and swallow you whole as you walked back to your room.

It didn’t take Minho much deliberation. He took Jisung’s hand, and the next thing he knew, he was surrounded by trees, the crisp night wind hitting his face, blowing his hair in disarray across his face. He sighed in delight, almost crying at the feeling. The air had never smelled better.

He turned around to see there were right next to Namsan Tower, the city of Seoul sprawled out below them. He wondered why Jisung had brought them there, out of all places.

A wave of panic seized him when he realized Jisung wasn’t beside him. He whipped around, eyes peering through the dark to see if he could catch sight of the demon’s blonde hair. He practically sagged in relief when he found Jisung leaning against one of the railings, looking out towards the Han River in the distance.

“There’s just something about the human realm.” Jisung said when Minho joined him at his side. “It’s no wonder so many demons and angels escape to here.”

The two stood in silence, taking in the summer breeze while they could. The twinkling city lights were mesmerizing, and Minho chastised himself for never appreciating them before.

“Did you know the lights aren’t actually blinking? It’s just due to atmospheric pressure.” Minho said, not really sure why he did.

Jisung raised an eyebrow in his direction, “Pressure? What’s that got to do with anything?”

Minho shrugged, “I—don’t know. That’s all I remember from that astronomy class I took a few years ago.”

Jisung laughed, a real one this time. “Glad to see all that time in the library really paid off.” He teased. Minho jabbed him harshly in the side, causing the demon to let out a yelp.

“Thanks to YOU most times at the library were spent with me having to talk myself out of stabbing my own eyes out, with a dull pencil.”

“Not my fault you never did anything fun.” Jisung muttered, moving a little away from the human as to avoid any more elbow to rib altercations. Minho glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. He took a moment to finally let himself examine the demon more, how he really had changed from the Jisung he’d known for the past three years. That Jisung was rowdy, carless, didn’t seem to care about anything or anyone else, always just looking for a good time. He was much like the boys Minho would always steer away from.

When Minho thought about it more, he realized Jisung hadn’t had a sudden change of priorities when Changbin had shown up in Seungmin’s dorm room. There had been a time before that when Minho was shocked to see there was another side of Jisung. A side when he wasn’t the cocky playboy that Minho had written him off to be. A side that reminded Minho that Jisung was his guardian after all.

It had started with the annual Chuseok Ball that his university.

A FEW MONTHS AGO

“What even are you?” Jisung asked judgingly from his spot sprawled on his bed.

Minho gave him a pointed look, “I’m supposed to be from a silent movie.”

Jisung scoffed, swinging his legs to hang over the bed, “Great, does that mean you’ll finally shut up?” He said with faked excitement.

Minho stuck his tongue out at the other. “And what are you dressed up as? An asshole?”

If the comment got to Jisung, he didn’t show it. “I’m not gonna dress up, that’s stupid. Why does this school have a costume dance anyways?”

Minho shrugged, the Chuseok Ball changed themes every year, this year it just so happened to be a costume ball. He didn’t necessarily like dressing up either, but Seungmin had begged him to go this year, and it was so hard for him to say no once the younger had him lasered with his infamous puppy dog eyes.

“Why don’t you dress up as a demon? It would be ironic.” Minho supplied helpfully.

Jisung gave him an offended look, “And what? Wear a horned headband and a pointy red devil tail? That’s offensive to my kind. No demons even look like that.”

Minho sighed, there was no convincing Jisung of anything. The demon was an impossible headass that way. He begrugglinly followed Minho as the latter made his way towards the grand ballroom the dance was being held in. Jisung was only following Minho out of courtesy of being his guardian, but if he had to put up with the demon complaining for the entire night, he’d rather Jisung leave.

“Do you see Seungmin?” Minho yelled at him over the din of the dance. He was peering over students’ heads, or—lack thereof in the case of a headless horseman that came waltzing past. Jisung gave the room a bored once over.

“No.” He said.

“You didn’t even look!” Minho chastised.

“I did.” Jisung said. Minho rolled his eyes, glancing around the room for the 4th time.

“Ah ha! I see him!” Minho immediately started walking towards the boy, not caring if Jisung was following after him or not. Honestly, if he somehow got lost in the crowds of people, all the better. 

He ducked under a swinging arm of a fairy, hopped to narrowly avoid the leg of a pirate, made a wide ring around an inflatable T-Rex, and finally—made it to the presence of—

“What the hell are you?” Jisung asked, Minho slightly disappointed to see the demon had had no problems following him.

“Me? I’m a shark!” Seungmin said, hopping slightly in his shark get up. The mouth of the shark encompassing his face so it looked like it had eaten Seungmin whole. Hyunjin was at his side, dressed neatly in a sailor uniform. Minho wondered if they’d planned to match. He’d bristled a little at the thought, glancing at Jisung out of the corner of his eye to watch as the demon guffawed at Seungmin while the angel shot him the evil eye.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the annual Chuseok Ball!” Came a voice from somewhere in the room, Minho figured it was one of the faculty members in charge of holding the dance. “As per tradition, we would like to kick start the night with the first Guardian-Charge dance.”

A slow song immediately started playing from the speakers, the lights getting dimmer as guardians and charges quickly made their way towards the center of the room. It wasn’t supposed to be a romantic dance, more like one would imagine a father-daughter dance to go. It was a nicety towards the guardians, to show that the university acknowledge that they were there.

At least, it would be a nicety if the guardians—coughJisungcough—appreciated it.

Minho and Jisung stepped away from each other while Seungmin grabbed Hyunjin’s hand to pull him towards the dance floor. They stood awkwardly as most guardians and charges had already started dancing, only the students without guardians lounging around on the sides… and Minho and Jisung.

The silence between them was irritatingly suffocating. Minho felt like he could slice the tension between them with a knife. There was no way he was going to ask Jisung to dance with him, and clearly, the demon wasn’t going to ask him either.

He tried to distract himself by looking at everyone costumes. Eyes flitting over the crowd of bodies, until he landed on a shockingly realistic looking costume. He wasn’t sure what the person was supposed to be, but they looked kind of like a skeleton? If skeletons were made out of what looked to be tree branches. There were also two braches protruding from the person’s head like horns. If Minho squinted, he thought he could make out little leaves hanging off the branches.

_Wow, this guy really payed attention to detail._ Minho thought impressed, he was sure to win the best costume contest. He must have been staring a little too long, for the person looked straight at him. A sudden spike of panic overwhelmed Minho, he was never good at awkward eye contact and quickly looked away.

He glanced back up a few second later, he couldn’t help himself, only to see the person was now making their way closer to him. “Fuck.” Minho breathed, ready to dash. What if the guy thought he as judging him? Well, in a way he was, but he really was just admiring his costume!

Minho yelped despite himself when a hand—Jisung’s hand—reached out to grab his arm. Minho looked up from their entwined hand incredulously. Jisung had never initiated physical contact before. The demon had an unreadable expression on his face as he stared somewhere behind Minho. His unease only increased at the demon’s expression, it wasn’t one he’d ever seen Jisung wear.

“On second thought, let’s dance.” He said, not waiting for Minho’s reply as he all but dragged the human onto the dance floor. Minho’s heart was beating double time, whether from the sudden change in attitude from Jisung, or the stranger making his way closer, he wasn’t sure. 

The song was probably halfway over at that point, but Jisung seemed strangely very into it. Whisking Minho further and further into the center of swaying bodies. The demon was a surprisingly good dancer, Minho was stunned to find out. The two waltzed their way into the middle of the dance floor. Minho felt people’s gazes on them. Normally he wouldn’t have cared since he was rather use to it, being a dancer in high school himself, he was use to performing in front of people. But there was something about dancing with Jisung that had Minho’s cheeks feeling hotter than normal. Perhaps it was all the body heat in the room.

More than just people’s gazes, however, why did he still feel so uneasy? Was it Jisung?

He stared at the demon’s face then, but Jisung wasn’t looking at him at all. His eyes were somewhere behind Minho, emotions Minho couldn’t read flickering behind the amber orbs. Minho raised an eyebrow in curiosity, trying to turn his head to get a look at what Jisung was looking at, but the demon swung him around suddenly into a dip. Minho gasped at the action, finding himself pressed up against Jisung’s chest, the demon’s grip strong and steady on his arms. Jisung looked at him them, and Minho was finally able to recognize the look in his eyes. Worry.

The sick feeling inside Minho only grew from there. Something was obviously wrong for Jisung to start acting like—this, whatever this was. Minho was out of his element here; he didn’t know what to do.

The song stopped after that, students and guardians clapping in the aftermath. Minho righted himself in a daze, belatedly realizing some of the claps were directed at Jisung and him. He caught Seungmin’s eye who was already staring at them, mouth in an “o”. He blushed, hurrying out of the center, Jisung hot on his heels.

“Minho—” Jisung said, his grip back on Minho’s arm. Minho too stunned to try and pull it away like he normally would have. His eyes fell onto the stranger with the costume again, expect this time, he was much closer. The more Minho stared at him, the more he realized that he could actually see through the guy’s body. Cold fear spiked through him. He reached out to grab a hold of Jisung’s hand. 

“Minho, run.” Jisung yanked on his arm, the two dashed quickly out of the ballroom. The _thing_ raced after them. It was scarily fast. It’s tree branch legs seemed to grow with each step the creature took. Minho’s mind was in a haze, not quite fast enough to figure out what the hell was going on.

“Just a little more and we can teleport out of here.” Jisung said, he didn’t seem the slightest bit out of breath as he tugged Minho along behind him.

Minho was all about teleporting, _Yes, get us the hell out of—_

He yelped when something struck his leg causing him to crash face first into the ground. The force of it knocked his grip out of Jisung’s. It wasn’t until he began sliding backwards that he realized that something was a tree branch, and it was still attached to his ankle. The breath was knocked out of him as he went flying backwards, closer and closer to the monster.

Jisung was after him in an instant, the demon’s speed seemed to triple as he caught up with Minho, hands latching onto Minho’s, but the monster was still pulling. Minho yelled out at the stretch. He suddenly remembered his mom joking about stretching him taller back in elementary school, and thought darkly that this form of stretching might just pull his limbs apart instead. _Sorry mom, your theory is busted. _

“I can’t teleport us out of here if he’s still attached to you.” Jisung grunted out, his feet were starting to slide where he’d dug his heels into the carpet at the force the monster was pulling. At his words, Minho tried to kick the thing off his ankle with his free leg. Desperately throwing one hard kick after kick. He was about to give up when he heard a loud crack. The creature roared whether in anger or pain, Minho wasn’t sure. Either way, the tree branch retracted from his leg and it was all Jisung needed to pull Minho towards him, the human crashing into the demon. They were both gone before they hit the floor.

It was all a blur of emotions after that. Minho remembered he couldn’t stop shaking. It was the first time he’d ever had to run for his life, and it was running from a skeleton tree monster nonetheless.

Seungmin and Hyunjin had shown up in their dorm not too long after Jisung had teleported them there. Hyunjin looking a little worse for wear. Apparently the angel had dealt with the monster himself, he was trying to reassure Minho that it wouldn’t come back. Though Jisung heard the angel’s words, it didn’t stop his body from shaking. Seungmin had wrapped his arms around his best friend, either to try and protect Minho from the world, or to try and stop the shaking, Minho wasn’t sure, but he was grateful. He jerked when he felt something touch his ankle, a yell caught in his throat when he saw it was only Jisung.

_Only Jisung._

The demon was examining his leg. Minho looked down as well, only now noticing the raw red rim that encircled his skin. The dull pain starting to make itself known above the static of his frenzied emotions.

“Let me help.” Hyunjin said, Jisung moved aside, for once the two not bickering in less than a 10-foot radius of each other. Hyunjin worked his angel magic. Minho felt a little better when he looked back down at his leg only to find normal colored skin. No signs that he’d been hurt at all.

Minho somehow fell asleep that night, Seungmin demanding to stay with him, not that Minho would ever push him away. He needed someone there that night. He didn’t think he’d make it if he were by himself.

Sometime the next day he’d woken up, to find no one was there. A surge of panic overwhelmed him, until Jisung popped up suddenly, causing Minho to scream in shock.

“Whoa hey, it’s just me.” Jisung said_. _Minho closed his eyes in relief, _Just Jisung._ He felt infinitely better knowing he wasn’t alone. Jisung was there.

He opened one eye to find the demon staring at him with a raw look Minho hadn’t seen before. Minho blushed, feeling like he’d just caught the other at an intimate moment, even though there was no one else there but the two of them. Jisung instantly closed back up, creating the mask Minho only now realized the demon wore.

“I went to talk to Chan about what happened, and—don’t worry Minho, it won’t get to you again, nothing will. I’ll make sure of it.”

~

_Changbin watched the scene from a distance, perched on one of the upper floor balconies. _Just as I suspected_, he thought. The monster’s grip cracked when the boy had kicked it. Changbin smiled with glee. _

_“Chan thought he was so smart, hiding him from me, but I’ll get him soon enough.” Changbin murmured to himself, about to disappear when an angel and human ran onto the scene. He watched in contempt as the angel killed his monster in a matter of minutes. Angels were powerful beings indeed; it was why he’d kill so many of them as his first act of collecting power. His lifted his hands that sizzled with energy. Fire and light mixing into one. _

_To attain both powers of Heaven and Hell, now that was the ultimate endgame. And Changbin wouldn’t stop until he’d gotten what he desired. _

~

Here they were, a few months later, and Minho was looking at Jisung in a different light, yet again. Perhaps it was the fresh air making his head feel dizzy. Maybe it was the way he’d never realized the moonlight cast Jisung in a certain ethereal glow he’d never have associated with a demon. Maybe it was because he was finally seeing who Jisung truly was, all sides of Jisung, and he was beginning to allow himself to feel that yes, he didn’t hate the demon. _Far from it. _

“Wanna go to a club?” Minho asked suddenly, his heart gave a squeeze when Jisung whipped his head to look at him, amber eyes wide in surprise.

“Really??” The demon asked, excitement barely contained. Minho decided he liked Jisung best like this, eyes alight with excitement, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Sure, why not? If we’re going to break the rules by going to the human realm, might as well go all out, right?”

Jisung clapped happily, rushing over to Minho’s side to grab his hand before the human could even blink. “I know just the place!”

A second later Minho found himself in the middle of a pulsating nightclub. Strobing neon lights and a strong smell of alcohol assaulted his senses. His mind reeled at the sudden change of environment, and Jisung had to reach out to steady him.

“Don’t you think it was a little risky to teleport into a public place?” Minho screamed over the music to be heard.

Jisung shrugged, excited glint never leaving his eyes, “It’s a nightclub! Everyone’s too busy, or too drunk to care!” And well, he had a point there.

The demon dragged him over to the bar, ordering six shots for himself, and two for Minho, handing the bartender a very demonic, very counterfeit credit card to pay. The human stared at the amounts of shots he’d ordered bug eyed. Jisung smirked, turning around to shrug at Minho, “I’m a demon, it takes a lot more to get me tipsy.” He wrapped Minho’s hand around a shot glass, lifting one up for himself. They downed the glasses in record time. Minho not having drank since—well, he couldn’t remember when, it had been that long ago.

Jisung dragged him out to the dance floor, but dancing wasn’t something the demon had to force him to do. Minho prided himself in his dancing, though he hadn’t exactly danced since high school. He found it all too easy to fall back into the rhythm. Jisung stared at him with wide eyes, obviously never having seen him really let loose and dance before.

“What?” Minho yelled at him, alcohol starting to kick into his system, perhaps he should have eaten something before he’d drank. That was a rule or something, wasn’t it? “Didn’t think I could dance?” He asked, body rolling away from the demon, sudden spike of energy bringing out what he did best: his sexy dance. He attracted quite a few people, some coming up to dance alongside him, right behind him, the alcohol in his system making him not really care who they were, or if they grasped his ass a little. He merely giggled at the brazen moves of some people.

He’d almost forgotten about his guardian demon, until Jisung stormed his way over the Minho, eyes filled with fire he directed solely on the guy grinding up behind him. The stranger quickly scurried away at the sight of the angry demon, Minho pouted at the loss of a body behind him, quickly pulling on Jisung to fill the empty spot.

“Hyung,” Minho whined, it was the first time he’d ever called Jisung “hyung,” usually refusing to since the demon looked younger, technically was younger in human age, but as a demon, he was well over 100.

Jisung gaped at the human, Minho giggling at him. “Dance with me, hyungie.” So Jisung did, the demon wasn’t so bad himself. Minho was ecstatic to find that they danced exceptionally well together. Minho’s hands on his waist, Jisung running his own down Minho’s face. It all felt _so good. _

The longer they danced, the closer they physically became, until Minho couldn’t take the tension anymore. Right as he leaned down to capture Jisung’s lips in his—some idiot decided to bring a glass onto the crowded dance floor, and it shattered on the ground right beside them.

They both looked down at the noise, Minho annoyed at the distraction, but Jisung gasped.

“Min! Your leg, you’re bleeding.”

Sure enough, there was a trickle of blood down Minho’s ankle from where a shard of glass must have cut him. The alcohol must have really been numbing his senses, because he didn’t feel a thing.

He shrugged, ready to get back to their previous canoodling, but Jisung started pulling him off the dance floor. Minho frowned but let the other drag him. _Maybe he wants to go somewhere a little more private._ Minho giggled at the thought.

Jisung pushed open the bathroom door, disturbing a couple heavily making out on the counter. They didn’t even pull apart when the two walked in. Jisung had to yell at them to get out before they slinked out of the bathroom unhappily.

Jisung pulled Minho to stand in front of him, grabbing a paper towel and wetting it before crouching down. Minho was disappointed at the action, clearly the demon really was just cleaning the cut on his ankle.

Jisung went to wipe the blood away, but stopped short. Minho looked down curiously. “What’s wrong?”

Jisung was staring at his leg, paper towel poised but not touching. Minho frowned again, “Sungie,” he whined.

“Minho, has your blood always looked like this?” The demon’s voice seemed far to steady for Minho’s alcohol filled brain. He didn’t want to be the only drunk one here.

“Look like what?” He asked, trying hard to get his mind to focus.

“It’s—it’s _black_, Minho.” Jisung disregarded the paper towel for a finger instead, swiping up some of Minho’s blood. Minho watched with wide eyes as the demon brought the blood up to his lips, pink tongue flicking out for a lick. And damn if that didn’t make Minho feel something. He tried to suppress the moan bubbling up his throat at the sight.

Jisung’s face scrunched at the taste, eyes going wide immediately after it, “Minho.” He called seriously, maybe even a little frightened.

“You’re scaring me, Sung. What is it?” He said starting to hop around to dispel the unwanted feeling. All he wanted was to blissfully lose himself in Jisung’s lips, was that too much to ask?

“Your blood. It’s _demon blood_.”

Minho stared at him blankly, “What?”

“It’s black, the color of demon blood. I thought maybe it was just the lighting but—it tastes like demon blood too. And it has a weird—human aftertaste.”

Minho did not comprehend. “I’m not sober enough for this.” He sighed. “Why did you make me drink so much?”

“It was only two shots, Min! How was I supposed to know you were such a lightweight?” He stood up, forgetting about cleaning the blood on Minho’s ankle. “Come on, there’s only one person I can think to ask about this.”

~

Jisung tried to teleport them back to Hell, only to find that he _couldn’t_, like there was a physical barrier holding him back. A feeling of fear washed over him, _this isn’t good. _There was only one other time he’d experienced someone dampening his powers.

He quickly pulled Minho behind him, “Come on, we need to get outside.” But when he pushed the bathroom door open, he was immediately swarmed by people—_demons—_he realized, for their black eyes are razor teeth snapped at Jisung who yelped in surprise. He pulled out the knife he always kept on him, already slashing away at the demons trying to take a chunk out of him. His left hand that had been firmly clasped around Minho’s started to slip.

“Minho!” Jisung cried out when the other was taken from his grasp completely. He wasn’t sure how he’d missed so many demons in the club. Or maybe they had just arrived? Either way he needed to get Minho back. That was his first priority.

He turned around abruptly, fighting his way back into the bathroom where they had taken Minho, catching sight of him struggling feebly in the hands of three demons. He cursed himself for giving him alcohol, maybe if he hadn’t he’d have a better chance of fighting for himself.

In his panic, a demon bit down on the back of Jisung’s neck, he yelled out before stabbing his knife backwards and twisting around to push the demon off. Now there were only the three left holding Minho.

“Let. Him. Go.” Jisung said, voice cold and deadly as fire burned in his eyes. One of the demons laughed,

“And what are you going to stop us with, that little knife of yours?” He sneered.

“This ‘little knife of mine’ as already killed the rest of your friends, so I suggest you back, _off_.” It seemed to make them falter a little bit, eyeing the dead demon bodies that littered the floor behind Jisung. They were already starting to disappear back to Hell.

The demons surrounding Minho however, didn’t let up. Instead, the demon tightened his chokehold around Minho, the latter wheezing out of breath. Jisung, filled with rage, ran at full speed across the room, stabbing the first demon while the other yanked him back by his hair. Jisung kicked out, twirling to slash the demon.

There was only one left now. The demon’s face flashed with fright now that it was only the three of them. Jisung snarled at him lowly, lunging forwards for the last attack, but he was too late.

“NO!” Jisung screamed. The demon’s razor teeth bared in a nasty smile and Minho’s eyes wide in fear were the last things Jisung saw before they both disappeared, leaving the dingy tiles of the club bathroom and a distraught Jisung behind.

He couldn’t help the panic attack that hit him like a freight train. His hands desperately pulling at his hair, trying to ground himself, but it was no use. With Minho gone, nothing would be able to make him see sense, and he had only himself to blame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *upside down smiley face* 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed that hella long chapter and your Minsung hearts were filled (or broken because of that ending...)  
As you can see, more secrets are being dug up. . . just what will the truth hold?
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself)


	4. Through the Miroh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the truth about Minho comes out, and Seungmin may or may not find himself in "mortal" danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to all those who commented on this story!!! I really appreciate all your support!! :') <3
> 
> This chapters got a lot of Hyunseungin... Seunghyunin... Jeonghyunmin? Well, you get the idea (* ^ ω ^)

Seungmin and Jeongin were casually strolling around Heaven’s grounds. They were outside the building were Hyunjin was, walking on plush grass, so green it almost didn’t seem natural. Their footsteps didn’t even make a dent. There was no sun visible in the sky, but it was bright out, and the sky was a bright blue. Even without the sun, it still hurt Seungmin’s eyes if he stared up for too long.

Other angels were milling around, though most were clustered around the building. It was a homey looking building, tan cobblestones on the outside, a complete contrast from the drab grey of Hell. There was a square courtyard in the center of the building, a beautiful fountain sat in the center, filling the courtyard with the sounds of bubbling water. Overall, Heaven wasn’t much different than Seungmin would have guessed.

They were currently walking along a line of evergreens, the start of the forest line that surrounded the building. Jeongin skipped happily ahead, diving further into the forest.

“Innie! Wait up!” Seungmin called after the demon, running to catch up.

“Look, Minnie! This is where I came in from.” He was pointing at some tree roots in the ground. Granted they were rather large tree roots, but Seungmin didn’t see anything particularly special about them. He nodded like he understood what he was looking at.

“It’s one of the secret entrances to Heaven, but I use the term ‘secret’ very lightl—” Jeongin yelped when a strong arm wound around his neck in a headlock. Seungmin didn’t know where the angel had come from, but there she was. Eyes fierce and glowing with blue heavenly light. The arm she had around Jeongin looked like it was searing his skin, if the steam that came off of them meant anything. The demon hissed in pain, his human form turning back to demonic.

“Stop! Let him go!” Seungmin said, frantically trying to pry the girl’s arms from around Jeongin’s neck.

“A demon and human, how did you get up here?” The girl snarled, further tightening her grip. Jeongin started to choke. 

“STOP! He’s friendly!” Seungmin yelled again. The angel tilted her head back in a trilling laugh.

“Whoever told you that was lying, mortal. Demons are never _nice_.” She spat. Seungmin watched helplessly as Jeongin’s eyes started rolling back.

“HYUNGJIN!” Seungmin screamed, hoping to God the angel could hear him. He didn’t know what else to do.

Not a second later, the angel appeared, eyes widening at the situation before him. “Let him go, Jihyo.”

“But—Hyunjin!” She sputtered, loosening her grip only slightly. “This is a _demon_. You of all angels should know what _murderers_ demons are.” There was something akin to torment behind the girl’s eyes. Seungmin wondered what a demon had done to her to make her feel such a way.

“That’s a direct order, Jihyo. Let him go, _now_.” The girl did let him go, though she looked not at all happy about it. Jeongin fell to the ground, coughing. The place the angel’s arms had been were raw with burns. Seungmin quickly ran to his side to make sure he was alright.

“I’ll deal with the demon.” Hyunjin said to the girl, who still didn’t look reassured, but at least left them alone, scowling at the demon one last time. Seungmin looked up when Hyunjin came over.

“Jeongin, are you alright?” The angel asked.

“Yeah, sure, just, peachy.” The demon wheezed out. Hyunjin sighed, hovering a hand over Jeongin’s neck. Blue light shot out of his palm, Seungmin had seen this before. It was what Hyunjin did to heal him whenever he’d been hurt. Immediately, the raw burns started to go back to Jeongin’s dark blue colored skin. His breathing returning to normal.

“Thank you.” The demon said, looking up at Hyunjin with big, shiny eyes.

Hyunjin stuttered, “Ah, yeah sure, no problem.” He coughed. Seungmin helped Jeongin up. “It’s not safe for you to be here, Jeongin.” Hyunjin said seriously. “The angels here, aren’t exactly welcoming to demons, as you can see.”

Jeongin frowned, “But Minnie is here, and I won’t leave him.” The angel’s eyes flickered down to see Jeongin holding tightly onto Seungmin’s hand. Seungmin blushed profusely unconsciously trying to pull his hand from Jeongin’s, but the demon wouldn’t budge.

Something changed in Hyunjin’s expression. “Fine, you’ll just have to stay next to me then. And do lose the demon form. It’s a dead giveaway.”

The trio made their way through Heaven, Seungmin in the middle.

“I’m so glad you’re here! I’ve always dreamed about showing you around my home!” Hyunjin said excitedly to Seungmin. Seungmin smiled, but his heart gave a squeeze. Hyunjin use to call their dorm “home,” now Hyunjin’s home was somewhere Seungmin had no place in being. Perhaps it would always be like that.

Hyunjin brought the two on a mini tour of Heaven, showing them the weapons room, the Well of Truth, the Fountain of Heavenly Light, in which bright blue light streamed down mimicking water; Seungmin and Jeongin took it all in with awe clear on their faces. Seungmin had never seen anything so beautiful.

“And this, is the Miroh.” Hyunjin said with a sweep of his arm. The three found themselves in a circular room where tall mirrors lined the walls. Seungmin knew they weren’t exactly mirrors, since mirrors would be flat, and these mirrors didn’t reflect the inside of the room, but instead shown of foreign scenery.

Seungmin’s wide eyes took in the different landscapes. One was of a green jungle, a couple showing tall skyscraper cities, another a plain field of grass. He was pretty sure he could make out the Eiffel Tower in one mirror.

“It’s how we monitor activity in the world, good or bad. It’s also much more convenient for a group of us to walk through the Miroh instead of teleporting one by one. Walking through them takes you instantly to the place beyond.” Hyunjin explained.

Seungmin was currently transfixed in what seemed to be an underwater mirror, a giant shark swam past, schools of fishes darting about. He wasn’t sure why they’d need a portal underwater. Perhaps angels could breathe underwater?

Somewhere to his side, Jeongin gasped. “Is that—?” Seungmin turned to see the mirror Jeongin was pointing at. He could barely see much through it, it seemed like the place was shrouded in darkness. A dimly lit wooden path was the only thing somewhat visible through the glass. It reminded him instantly of the ghost track in Mario Kart.

Hyunjin came up behind him, “Yeah, it is.”

Seungmin shot them a curious look, “Is anyone going to explain to the human what ‘it’ is?” He huffed out. Hyunjin and Jeongin turned to him with identical looks, Seungmin was taken aback by the similarity.

“It’s better you don’t know.” Hyunjin said finally.

Jeongin nodded, “Not even demons want to go there.”

Seungmin nodded like he understood, looking back at the dark landscape. He thought he saw a flicker of something in the near distance, and leaned closer to get a better look. An eerie shadowed face made itself visible in the distance shadows, smiling a wispy, beyond creepy smile. Seungmin jerked back, and shivered. 

“What’s this?” Jeongin asked, reaching out to poke a crystal ball floating high in the center of the room. Seungmin hadn’t noticed it before, inside the ball an iridescent fog was swirling. Hyunjin caught Jeongin’s hand before the demon could touch it.

“It’s an alarm, it tells us when something bad is happening, and needs our immediate attention.” Hyunjin said, voice serious.

“Does it ring often?” Seungmin asked.

Hyunjin shook his head, “Not often at all, thankfully. But there have been a handful of times throughout history that it’s rung. You may have heard of the black plague?” Seungmin’s mouth opened like he was about to say something, but Hyunjin was already moving on.

“Come on, there’s so many other things to show you!” The angel said.

After what seemed like a full day of touring, Seungmin was exhausted. Because the sun never set, he wasn’t sure how long he’d been awake. Jeongin had gone down to the human realm to pick up some food for Seungmin, since Angels didn’t exactly need to eat, there was no food from Seungmin in Heaven.

Seungmin chewed lazily at the fried chicken Jeongin had brought back, eyes drooping closed mid chew.

“Yah, Kim Seungmin, you’re going to choke if you keep eating like that.” Hyunjin chastised as he and Jeongin watched the human as he ate.

“I can’t help it,” Seungmin mumbled around a mouthful, “’M so tired,” He trailed off, eyes fluttering closed again.

Jeongin giggled, “Then just sleep, Minnie.” Hyunjin shot the demon a pointed look, but Seungmin was too out of it to notice. It wasn’t more than a few seconds before Seungmin had passed out on the bed, the chicken he’d been holding in his hands falling from his loose grip.

~

Hyunjin sighed, though he couldn’t help the warm feeling inside him as he went to pick up Seungmin’s fallen chicken, sweeping his hands over the human’s to clean them magically of grease.

“That’s convenient.” Jeongin snorted. Hyunjin stopped to look at the demon. It was somewhat disconcerting, seeing the demon look so—human. He could easily pass as an angel even, in this form. The younger sat cross-legged on the floor, head cocked as he stared back at Hyunjin. For a second he could have sworn the demon’s eyes looked like that of a cat’s. It was a rude reminder of what Hyunjin knew he truly was. _A demon._

Hyunjin felt the wall stacking up in front of him, protecting his heart from more heartbreak. He’d trusted demons before, and look where that had gotten him. Jeongin had saved him though, Felix had told him as much. It had been Jeongin who had found him first, Hyunjin guessed he ought to be grateful towards the demon, but still a little part of him wondered if the demon had actually been there to save him, or if more nefarious motives were at play.

“Are you planning on sticking around here for much longer?” Hyunjin asked, voice clipped. Jeongin frowned at him, looking like a kicked puppy. Hyunjin’s heart was telling him Jeongin was fine, to trust him, but his mind was wary. _I can’t take another betrayal. _

“You really don’t like me, do you?” Jeongin asked, his voice the most dejected Hyunjin had heard it. His mind and his heart waged battle inside.

“If I really didn’t like you, I wouldn’t have told Jihyo to let you go, would I?” Hyunjin replied warily. It seemed to be enough for the demon, for a determined glint shone in his eyes.

“You may not fully trust me yet, hyung, but you will.” The demon smiled then, an innocent boyish smile, and it took everything Hyunjin had to not let that wall crack.

~

Jisung teleported into the throne room of Hell, stumbling in his haste. “Chan!” He yelled, voice strained. The King of Hell was beside to them in an instant, look of worry clear on his face.

“What the devil happened?” He asked, clearly seeing the distress written across Jisung’s face. “And where’s Minho?”

Jisung froze at the name, pleading eyes staring into Chans, and he instantly understood what had happened. Chan placed his hands on Jisung’s arms, searching the demon’s face.

“Jisung, who took him?”

“Lower level demons, but there were so many of them, it had to be Changbin’s doing.” Jisung’s voice cracked at the name, Chan’s grip on his arms tightened. “Hyung—what do we do?”

Chan’s mind was reeling with thoughts, was now the time to tell Jisung the truth? He was hoping it wouldn’t come to that, but the moment he’d been informed that Changbin had reappeared, he knew deep down this moment would come.

Chan sighed, releasing Jisung from his grip. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

Jisung look confused, “What kind of something?” Chan was silent, his wings bristled anxiously. “Hyung?”

“It’s about Minho. Who he really is, why I assigned you to him,” Chan said, voice resigned. Jisung only stared. “He’s not fully human, Jisung. He’s a Cambion.”

Jisung eyes grew wide. It wasn’t a secret that half demon, half-human children were out here in the world, but it was rare for them to be much cause of concern.

“That’s why his blood was black—” Jisung started.

“You knew his blood was black?” Chan asked, surprised.

“I’d almost forgotten about it, but before we were attacked, a glass cut his leg and his blood was black.” Jisung said, lost in thought.

“Glass? How did that happen?” Chan asked.

Jisung waved him off, “It’s not important right now. You were saying, about Minho.”

“He’s Cambion, and I assigned him to you to throw off anyone who was looking for Lucifer’s son.”

Jisung’s mouth gaped open, shock written clear on his face. Chan might have found it comical if it wasn’t such a serious matter.

“What do you mean, Lucifer’s son? Lucifer doesn’t have any kin.” Jisung said defiantly, like just by saying it would make it true.

Chan shook his head, “He wanted everyone to believe that, imagine the kind of danger the son of Lucifer would be in. He came to me for help, so—I assigned Minho to you to throw off anyone who might come to figure out Lucifer had a son.”

Jisung clenched his fists, “So you used Minho as bait?”

“Don’t get testy, Jisung. You know how important it is that Lucifer’s son stay safe. And besides, you are my best demon. I was confident nothing would happen to Minho.”

“You were wrong,” Jisung muttered.

“What?”

“You were wrong, I’m not the best demon, obviously. Minho was taken right in front of me and I couldn’t save him.” Jisung was close to tears, the shakiness of his voice a clear sign. Chan walked over to the demon, and promptly wrapped him into a hug. Jisung seemed so shocked it took him a while until he relaxed into Chan’s embrace. The King of Hell didn’t go around hugging just anyone, but he could tell Jisung was close to breaking. Decades of being together had told him so.

“I have no doubt you did the best you could, Sung. And you will save him, he’s not lost yet.” Chan said. The two stayed like that for some time, until Jisung pulled himself away. “I was worried for Changbin when he disappeared for so long, all those months ago.” Chan started.

“We all were,” Jisung said.

“But I was _afraid_ when he came back and kill all those angels.” Chan said. “Not only because it was nothing like the Changbin we knew, the Changbin we _loved_, but also because—Changbin _knew_, or at least was somewhat aware, that Lucifer has a son.”

“How could he have known?” Jisung questioned.

“He walked in one day, right after I’d received a message from Lucifer. Binnie was being his usual annoying self, teasing me that it was another love letter from Jaehyun—which we _don’t_ write, mind you.” Chan thought important to state, Jisung just widened his eyes at Chan impatiently, “It’s partly the reason why I assigned Minho to you, because after that, I was worried someone would figure out what Lucifer and I were messaging about. It wasn’t safe for anyone to know the truth. Not Changbin, not even you.”

Jisung bit his lip, “So what you’re saying, is that Changbin is after Minho, because he believes Minho is Lucifer’s son?” Chan nodded.

“Well, if Minho isn’t Lucifer’s son, then who is?” Jisung asked, big eyes trained on Chan’s. Chan glanced towards the giant Hellfire burning in the throne room wall. Jisung gasped, clearly catching on. Chan didn’t need to say his name, didn’t _dare_ say his name in case anyone, anything was listening in.

~

Seungmin woke up in a cold sweat, jolting upright from his dream. It was strangely dark in the room, somewhere in his mind registered that he was in Heaven, but his mind was caught in a web. Shadows were moving along the walls, and he found himself enticed to follow them. He stumbled out of bed, vaguely aware that Hyunjin and Jeongin were nowhere to be found.

The shadows seemed to laugh, darting out of his room. He staggered in his haze, trying to catch up. The shadows led him down winding hallways, he passed by no one as he followed them. If he was more aware, he’d realize it was strange that there wasn’t anyone there, since the halls were always bustling with angels. It was like he’d stumbled across an alternate dimension where Heaven was dark and empty.

The shadows took a sharp turn into a room, and Seungmin followed, gripping onto the doorway to steady himself. He recognized the room, it was the one with all the mirrors, though he couldn’t remember what Hyunjin had called it to save his life.

The shadows seemed to push and pull at him now, leading him towards the darkest mirror. Seungmin vaguely remembered peering into the mirror earlier that day. He’d been so curious as to what was on the other side. Hyunjin and Jeongin wouldn’t tell him, but these shadows might.

He had just opened his mouth to ask when a significantly stronger push made him stumble over his own feet and he gasped as he hurtled head first through the mirror. He thought he’d heard someone yelling his name before he was enshrouded in darkness. The shadows laughter ringing in his ears.

~

Jeongin knew something was wrong immediately. It was like an unknown 6th sense, he went rigid, body on high alert. A sickening feeling crept along his skin, up his spine. The room they were in was getting darker, though no one else around him seemed to notice. He whipped his head towards Seungmin still form, asleep in bed, but a flicker in his peripheral caught his attention. Shadows were racing across the walls, down towards the hallway. And he thought he might have seen an all too familiar wispy figure of a boy. Jeongin was on his feet in an instant.

“What is it? Jeongin? What’s wrong?” Hyunjin asked, but the demon was already running. He’d heard stories of shadows, dark entities that tricked people into following them, luring them back to their home only to feast upon their innocent souls.

_Seungmin._ Jeongin’s mind raced, picking up speed as he raced down the halls following the quickly disappearing shadows. Though the boy’s body was still in bed, he could have sworn he’d seen Seungmin walking out of the room. Had it been his soul that Jeongin had seen?

Jeongin skidded around the corner, he knew where the shadows were headed, it could only mean one thing—

Jeongin caught sight of the tail end of Seungmin as he staggered into the Miroh. He yelled the boy’s name, racing faster, he had to get to Seungmin before it was too late.

Jeongin’s eyes went wide with fear as he watched the human’s soul get pulled into the portal. “SEUNGMIN!” He screamed.

Hyunjin crashed past Jeongin into the room. “Oh God, oh fuck,” the angel braced himself against the frame of the mirror Seungmin had just gone through, turning to Jeongin with eyes shining bright blue. “We have to go after him.”

Jeongin strode over to join Hyunjin, determination set in his features. “Don’t need to tell me twice. You sure you want to come along, Jinnie? Something tells me this place is practically suicide for heavenly beings.”

Hyunjin’s jaw was clenched, he was staring into the darkness of the portal. “It’s Seungmin, I’d drag myself to the ends of the world for him.”

“Well, you’ll be dragging yourself much farther than that.” The demon held his breath, and stepped through the mirror, bracing himself for the horrors to come. There was a reason young demons and angels were warned of the place. It was a place far worse than Hell, it was where souls went to die.

~

Jaehyun had left Heaven around the time Hyunjin had taken Seungmin and Jeongin on a tour around the place. He wasn’t too happy about there being a demon in Heaven, but thankfully no one else seemed to notice the demon’s presence. Besides, Jeongin seemed harmless enough, from what he’d seen of the demon every time he went down to visit Chan. _Not_ that he visited the King of Hell _that_ often.

His white wings fluttered as he landed on the floor of Chan’s throne room. The fireplace crackling loudly in the distance. Jaehyun turned to stare at it, the giant flames of blue and orange resembled a house fire. He’d always wondered why the couches were positioned so close, wouldn’t its occupants get roasted alive?

“Jaehyun?” A disgruntled but familiar voice came from behind him. Jaehyun turned to see Chan, white tuff of hair streaked with black, his skin seemed almost darker today, if that was possible. The whites of his eyes standing out starkly in contrast. The King looked exhausted, Jaehyun resisted the urge to go over and hug the demon. That would be unprofessional, and totally uncalled for, and _why did his cheeks feel hot_?

“Chan, are you okay?” He asked slowly, taking the smallest of steps towards the other. It wasn’t until then that Jaehyun noticed there was another demon—Jisung—who was also in the room. The demon looked disgruntled, eyes flitting around in worry.

Chan sighed, waving a hand dismissively, “Sure, I’m fine.”

Jaehyun looked from Chan, to Jisung, and frowned. “For the King of all demons, you are quite a horrible liar.”

“I’m a great liar.” Chan snapped, though his anger left him a second later. Jaehyun wasn’t fazed at this point, he knew about the demon’s short temper, but he also knew Chan cared about a lot of things that for most people would go over their heads.

“Jisung’s not doing too well though,” Chan supplied, Jisung gave him a pout like he was hurt Chan had told his secret. Not like Jaehyun hadn’t already noticed.

“Did something happen?” The angel asked, not quite sure if he wanted to know or not. Demon matters didn’t concern him, but there was a small part of himself that knew they did. Heaven and Hell had always been tied together, no matter how much the two sides liked to think not.

“It’s—Changbin,” Chan said, after some hesitation, his eyes darting from Jisung’s, “He took Minho.” Jaehyun stiffened. He knew who Minho was, he was the poor human that got assigned a demon to protect him. Life wasn’t fair for many.

“Why is he after Minho anyways?” The angel asked, “What’s a human got to do with him?”

Chan and Jisung exchanged a glance before Chan looked back at Jaehyun. “There are things I haven’t told you.” His said, seeming rather drained.

For a second, Jaehyun was hurt, but he immediately pushed the feeling away. Why should he feel hurt that Chan was hiding something from him? It’s not like the two leaders shared all their secrets with each other, when had a demon gotten so close to him anyways? And yet—Jaehyun couldn’t help feeling almost… betrayed.

Chan and Jisung seemed to be having a silent battle again, Jaehyun stood impatiently, left in the dark. Eventually, Chan sighed, “Minho, he’s—not exactly human.” Jaehyun startled, wings unfurling in surprise. “He’s a Cambion.” Chan said, Jisung seemed to instantly relax, like he’d been expecting Chan to say something else. Jaehyun raised an eyebrow in his direction.

“So that’s why he was assigned a demon to protect him?” Jaehyun asked, things finally starting to click into place. Chan just nodded.

“By the way, have you seen Jeongin recently?” Chan asked the angel.

Jaehyun rolled his eyes, “Last I saw of the little devil, he and Seungmin were being given the grand tour of Heaven by Hyunjin. I do not approve of a demon being in Heaven, by the way. Please take him back soon.” Jaehyun glared in Chan’s direction in what he hoped was a “no nonsense” look. The King seemed to relax at what Jaehyun said, which was odd yet again. Why did he feel like he was missing something?

Just then a loud alarm started blaring with intensity. He yelped, clutching his head in reflex. Instantly, a pair of hands were on his shoulders. Wincing at the decimal of the alarm, he looked up into the King of Hell’s worried eyes.

“Jaehyun, what’s wrong?”

“You don’t hear that?” Jaehyun asked, hands moving to his ears in hopes to block out the sound. The two demons shook their heads.

“Hear what?”

The sound wasn’t getting any softer even with his hands over his ears, which meant—Jaehyun stiffened. It had been decades since he’d heard an alarm like this, no wonder he’d forgotten about it. He had wanted to forget.

“It’s the Miroh, the alarm, something bad has happened.” His eyes glowed blue. Chan clearly didn’t understand what the angel was talking about, but how could he? He’d never been to Heaven before, he didn’t know about the Miroh.

“Jaehyun—” Chan started, hands still on his shoulders.

“I have to go, _now_.” Jaehyun said, about to teleport back when Chan’s grip on his shoulders tightened.

“Send Jeongin home, please.” And it was the way Chan said it that made Jaehyun look at him with wide eyes, the alarm still blaring in his head. He could only nod at the King, giving him his word, before disappearing all together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *laughs manically*  
No I'm jk, look forward for the next chapter! I'm excited about where it's going ;o
> 
> P.S. Anyone else excited about skz come back on Wednesday??? I can't wait ( ‾́ ◡ ‾́ )


	5. Prince of Hellfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our demon and angel duo have a less than warm welcome to District 9, and Minho has (kinda) made a new friend in the most unlikely of places

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo yo sorry to leave you guys on a cliffhanger for so long, I didn't realize how much of a cliffhanger that was until it was pointed it out, mb <3
> 
> I feel like the last couple chapters were pretty heavy, so this ones a little more lighthearted for you guys--err at least surprisingly entertaining (I hope) considering the content lol 
> 
> Another part to Changbin's back story this chapter!! Look forward to it ;D

Jeongin shivered, pulling his arms around himself to try and warm himself up. The place was freezing, a jarring contrast to the warmth of Hell. His human façade had given way to his demonic form unconsciously. It was probably better this way anyways, he was less vulnerable in his true form.

He couldn’t see much of anything, everything was shrouded in shadows, shadows that seemed to move, laugh, stare at them. Hyunjin stumbled at his landing, latching on to the demon for support.

“Are you okay?” Jeongin asked, concern laced through his voice. Hyunjin didn’t look so good, not that Jeongin was surprised. This place was toxic even for demons, there was no way Hyunjin would last here for tooa long.

“I’m fine.” Hyunjin said, though his voice was weak. Jeongin reached out to grab a hold of his arm for support. At last with Hyunjin plastered to his side, he felt a little warmer. “Let’s just find Seungmin, and fast. He couldn’t have gotten that far, right?”

Jeongin looked around them, they still hadn’t moved from where they’d initially landed. He wondered if it would be a bad idea to yell Seungmin’s name into the void and hope the boy heard them. He had just opened his mouth when Hyunjin interrupted.

“Please don’t do what I think you’re about to do.” The angel said.

“Whaa—what did you think I was going to do?”

“You were going to scream his name, weren’t you?”

Jeongin gaped at the angel, slightly flustered, “H—how did you know?”

Hyunjin shrugged, “I was debating doing the same thing, but it’s a bad idea. We don’t know what will come instead of him.”

The two started making their way into the darkness. Once they’d walked further without anything attacking them yet, Jeongin realized the land was barren, cast in a grey filter, abandoned buildings rose around them, debris floating past their feet. The shadows were ever present, and Jeongin knew on instinct that they should never come in contact with the shadows.

“Where could he have gone? We need a better game plan than just wandering around this place forever.” Hyunjin gritted out, his grip on Jeongin was weak, but Jeongin was strong, which was odd, he thought he’d have been more effect than he was, but besides the cold, he felt—fine. Good even. And that feeling alone made him even more worried.

They didn’t keep to the dark corners like they might have done in any other sneaking situation. Here, darkness was bad, light was good, light would keep the shadows at bay.

“Do you think you could use some of your heavenly light if things get a little hairy down here?” Jeongin asked the demon, glaring at some shadows that got a little too close. Evil laughter echoed off the abandoned walls.

“If I save my energy, I’m sure I can.” Hyunjin said.

Jeongin grinned a little, “Is that an invitation to carry you?” The demon teased.

Hyunjin glared at him, “Now is _not_ the time, Jeongin.” Jeongin pouted at the lack of a nickname. _Soon,_ he thought. The angel was sure to warm up to him, eventually, everyone did.

“Wait,” Jeongin stopped them in their tracks, “You’re Seungmin’s guardian angel, can’t you sense where he is?”

Hyunjin looked pained, “Normally I could, but it must be this _place_, I can’t feel anything.” The angel muttered angrily. Jeongin frowned, that could have saved them a lot of time.

The two kept walking, keeping as far away from the shadows as they could. The angel’s feet started to drag across the ground, he wasn’t holding out as long as Jeongin had been hoping. He considered actually carrying the angel when Hyunjin tugged on his arm.

“Look.” The angel said, Jeongin followed his gaze to a clearing. It looked like it could have been a grass field, if grass was dead and grey and cracked beneath your feet. There was a sign Jeongin could just make out.

“District 9?” He read out loud. Almost as soon as he said it, it was like a veil had been lifted, for where the barren field use to be, an ominous, tall, blacked building could be seen. The two started up at the structure in awe, but not because it was pretty, in fact, it was far from it. It looked like the building had been scorched by fire and was seconds away from disintegrating to the ground.

Hyunjin gave a small gasp, “I felt something.” The angel breathed, Jeongin’s heart gave a tug of hope.

“Seungmin?”

Hyunjin nodded, “It’s either Seungmin, or I’m about to throw up, which—honestly might be quite likely.”

Jeongin gave the angel a look, “Are you okay with continuing? You could go back you know, I can handle this.”

Hyunjin gave him an incredulous look, “And let you take all the credit for saving my Seungminie? No thanks, Hell spawn, I’m coming in with you.”

Jeongin scoffed, “As you wish, Heaven fluff.” As they started off towards the building, Hyunjin mumbled a “Mine sounded cooler.” under his breath which Jeongin chose to ignore.

The shadows circled around their feet, almost like they were dancing. Jeongin worried whoever was in that building would know they were coming, but he couldn’t see any other plausible way of entering without being seen. If that meant they had to fight off the shadow creatures, then so be it. Jeongin would down fighting for Seungmin without question, as long as the human was okay.

Hyunjin’s squeezed Jeongin’s arm once again, “I feel it again, we’re getting closer.”

“Good.” Jeongin whispered. They’d reached the bottom of the building, or what was left of the building. Many walls were missing, only charred posts holding the building up remained. The shadows licked closer, Jeongin trying his best to keep the both of them away. Hyunjin gave a small yelp of pain, Jeongin turning is head to see that a shadow had reached out for his arm. The angel used a flash of heavenly light to ward the shadows off, but he immediately sagged further against Jeongin afterwards.

“Let’s please find Seungmin quickly.” The angel gritted out. Jeongin didn’t need to be told twice. The two crept their way into the building through an opened wall, it seemed the shadows weren’t following them inside. Something that should have been reassuring, only made the sick feeling in Jeongin’s gut worse. Just what kind of place was this that even the shadows were keeping away?

Their footfalls echoed against barren concrete walls, Jeongin cringed at every step, wishing it didn’t sound so loud in the silence. There wasn’t anything on the first floor, so the two made their way up a set of stairs in the corner, Hyunjin struggled to keep climbing around halfway through, so Jeongin thought _screw it _and lifted the angel up into his arms, Hyunjin squawked at the sudden change, arms flying to grip around Jeongin’s neck as the demon carried him up the last of the steps. He set him down again at the top. The angel wouldn’t meet his eyes, and even with all the danger and worry swirling around them, Jeongin couldn’t help but find the angel cute.

A distant voice ripped him back to the present, the angel and the demon whipped their heads to look at each other. _Seungmin_, Hyunjin mouthed, but it wasn’t Seungmin’s voice, a despairing thought yelled in Jeongin’s head.

The two crept towards the voice, Jeongin almost being able to make out what they were saying, until the noises started to sound more like words, instead of distant scratchy whispers.

“—fate will come for you, human. Your days are numbered, less than you think. Why not let us end your misery earlier?”

“But, I’m not miserable.” Seungmin said, and Jeongin perked up at his voice, heart singing in relief that he was still alive, he sounded okay, at least—as okay as a human could sound after being hypnotized by evil shadows into the shadow realm. Seungmin was fine.

The voice gave an eerie laugh, “It is not the misery _you_ feel, but the misery of those you will leave behind.”

“And why would killing me earlier solve any of that?” Seungmin’s voice shook, and Jeongin wanted more than nothing to run over and punch whoever was talking to him in the face. Maybe burn this whole building down for good. _Could I burn the whole dimension?_ He wondered.

Something, or more, someone stopped him, however. Hyunjin pulled him back as they were about to enter the area where the voices were coming from. Jeongin looked at the angel about to protest, but Hyunjin looked crushed as he stood frozen, listening to the voice.

“Less attachment, less misery. The longer you prolong your fate, the worse it will be for those you love, and those who love you.” The voice said, and it dawned on Jeongin just what the voice was implying. Striking cold fear pierced his heart.

“What is he saying?” The angel breathed, shaking his head like he could dispel what he was hearing.

“Who cares what he’s saying? Let’s kick his ass.” Jeongin said, getting angry that such words would be spoken. Just who was he to plant nonsensical lies into Seungmin’s mind? Jeongin wouldn’t allow it any further.

“HEY! YOU DECEPTIVE ASSHOLE!” Jeongin yelled, pulling both him and Hyunjin into the room. All eyes—or lack thereof—were turned to them. Jeongin gulped as he took in the scene, two shadows were hovering far too close to a wispy Seungmin who was kneeling on the floor. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his skin looked ghastly, like the pigment had been sucked out of him. Though perhaps that was just the aftereffect of it being his _soul_.

Shadow creatures, anyone in this realm, fed on the souls of living humans. No creature was allowed to do that. Demons were forbidden from live human soul consumption, but shadow creatures such as these never seemed to catch on to that rule. It was why there were banished from the realms of the living centuries ago. Jeongin thought it was rather stupid for angels to still harbor a portal to this very realm. Was it their overbearing desire to be able to control everything? When they got back, Jeongin vowed to destroy the portal once and for all.

“Hyunjin.” Seungmin breathed, voice sounding faraway. Jeongin felt a pang of hurt that the human didn’t call his name, but he saw the worried look on the human’s face as his gaze fell upon Hyunjin’s weak form. Jeongin knew Hyunjin looked the worse of the two, and the angel wasn’t likely to last for much longer. He needed to get them all out of there, and fast.

“I know you.” The voice that had been talking to Seungmin said, Jeongin followed the sound of the voice to a corner where a giant mass of a shadow conglomerated. He wondered if it was a collective voice speaking, if all the shadows had combined into one large one, or if it was just a single entity.

“Do you? Great, then you know I have no qualms about killing all of you horrid creatures.” Jeongin growled, grip on Hyunjin tightening protectively.

The voice laughed, and Jeongin realized it did sound like multiple voices combined. “Pompous, just like your father.”

Jeongin faltered, confused, “You know my father?”

“We used to, a long time ago, when we were still free to roam the many realms. He was one of the ones who locked us away.” The voices said viciously. Jeongin winced at the sheer amount of hatred that poured from it. Just his luck, that evil shadow creatures would know who his father was when he himself did not. He waged war with himself on whether he should give in and ask the shadows who his father was or not.

“You have much luck, demon, but your fate is to become entangled with matters far greater than you could stand. Let us ease your future troubles, let us take his life.”

Jeongin clenched his hands into fists, “You will not lay a hand on his soul.” Jeongin growled out, voice deadlier than he’d ever used it before. He felt Hyunjin stiffen beside him.

“We have no hands to wield, Prince of Hell, that threat will not work on us. This is your last chance to willingly let him go, or you _will_ all drown in misery.”

“The future is ours to decide, not yours, _monster_.” Hyunjin spat out. Jeongin could feel the angel practically vibrating in anger at his side.

“If that’s the way you will be, very well. You may take the human’s soul with you.” The voice said. No one moved, the three of them shared a glance. Surely they wouldn’t let them go this easily? No one went into this realm and ever made it back alive—but Jeongin wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He strode over to Seungmin, the shadows flanking his side dissipating into the darkness. Jeongin reached out tentatively, wondering if he could physically touch a soul. He made contact with Seungmin’s wispy form, finding that he could touch the boy, and picked Seungmin up into his arms. Seungmin instantly burrowed his head into the crook of Jeongin’s neck, if the situation wasn’t so tense, Jeongin might have cooed at the his actions.

The three made their way quickly from the building, or as quickly as they could with a weakened angel gripping onto one arm and a drained human soul balanced in his hold. Jeongin was tense the entire way out of the building, expecting a sneak attack on them at any second, but none ever came. It was eerily easy.

They were making their way out of the dead field, back towards the abandoned buildings when the shadows started picking up. It seemed triple the amount that had been swirling around their feet earlier. Jeongin started to pick up his speed, he would have ran if Hyunjin wasn’t still counting on him for support. He couldn’t hold both of them in his arms, though he wished he could.

The whispers picked up, the laugher raising in decimal until a burst of shadows exploded in front of them, coming right for them. Hyunjin gasped, hands flying out in front of him in a show of bright blue heavenly light. Some of the shadows closest to them dissipated with a screech, but the rest were only held at bay.

They were slowly pushing their way through the shadows, Hyunjin’s eyes burning bright blue, but Jeongin could tell it was fading. “I can’t hold out much longer.” Hyunjin said behind grit teeth. Jeongin’s mind was racing, they were almost back from where they’d come. Only a few more paces at they’d be there—

Hyunjin’s heavenly light was starting to flicker out. “Jeongin—” He breathed in dismay.

“Are you okay to walk?” Jeongin asked Seungmin softly. Seungmin nodded weakly, Jeongin had barely placed Seungmin on the ground before the shadows reared up again, racing straight for them.

“_Prince of Hell, Prince of Hell, Prince of Hell_,” The voices whispered creepily. Jeongin had had enough, and _why was everyone here calling me that?_

He wasn’t sure what was happening, but something inside him clicked. His cat-slit eyes bore of Hellfire, and all at once, the Hellfire seemed to race through his veins, until he felt nothing but a powerful burning sensation. He was only vaguely aware that he wasn’t in the same form that he had been a few moments ago.

At the next surge of shadows, Jeongin burst alight with flames, burning an incredible orange and blue. Hyunjin and Seungmin gasped at the demon, or what they assumed to be Jeongin, but was now a giant dark blue feline, easily twice the size of a large tiger, but 100 times more fiery and scary. The feline had two relatively small bat-like wings protruding from its’ back. They were definitely too small to lift the giant cat into flight, but it was shockingly such a Jeongin thing to see. Cute little bat wings on a giant fiery demon cat, quintessential Jeongin.

The cat burned with orange and blue flames, he reared up to growl at the onslaught of shadows, fire pouring off of the beast in waves. Hyunjin pulled Seungmin towards him. They could only stare at Jeongin in shock as they watched the fiery demon cat wreak havoc on the shadow creatures, pouncing on them like mice and batting them away like mere dust in the air. The fire consuming the shadows he reached.

Hyunjin finally shook himself back to reality, taking the distraction the cat, err—Jeongin, made to get them closer towards their exit.

The shadows shrieked away from the demon, some still laughing crazily. “_Prince of Hell, your fire burns those you love, and those you hate.” _

Jeongin let out a roar, as blue and orange fire shot out around him, inching backwards towards their exit as he did so. Jeongin felt consumed by the Hellfire running through his veins. The fiery warmth enshrouded him, he felt the burn deep in his bones, but with it only came a pleasant sensation. His mind was brought back to the Hellfire burning bright in Chan’s throne room, a feeling that felt so much like home—

“JEONGIN! LET’S GO!” Hyunjin’s voice yelled towards the demon cat, Jeongin mewled, hissing one last burst of fire towards the shadow creatures who danced away like it was a game.

“_Prince of Hellfire, your destiny awaits._” The words swirled around them as they slipped back through the portal, the shadows swirling like oil on the other side.

~

Minho wasn’t sure how long he’d been in the cell, it could have spanned anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks. There was no way of tracking time, not an ounce of sunlight came in from anywhere. Luckily he seemed to see pretty well in the dark.

Minho was scared. The moment before the demon had teleported them away from Jisung kept replaying in his head. The panicked look on Jisung’s face plaguing his mind. Whenever he squeezed his eyes shut, all he could see was Jisung. Minho was scared, not because he was in a dank cell god knows where, but because of the sheer look of dismay that had crossed Jisung’s face, seconds before he’d disappeared all together.

Minho knew he wasn’t the only one in the cells, because someone was humming horribly off key somewhere near him. After a while of listening to the off-pitch notes, and wallowing in his thoughts, Minho snapped.

“Would you please shut the fuck up?” He bit out.

The humming abruptly stopped, giving way to a scoff, “Well since you asked so nicely.” The voice said sardonically. There were a few moments of silence, before the humming started up again. Minho considered bashing in head in against the wall right then and there and end the torture. Surely Changbin had put this guy in here on purpose to make Minho’s ears bleed.

“Oh my god,” Minho said under his breath, “I’m going to die to this horrible rendition of _My Heart Will Go On._” He said, head falling into his hands. The humming stopped not too long later when said hummer had a rather concerning coughing fit.

“So, what are you in here for?” The gruff voice asked casually, like he hadn’t been hacking to death a few seconds ago.

“What, it’s not like we committed crimes. Well, I hope you didn’t commit a crime, unless you count your atrocious singing.” The voice let out an insulted “_Hey_!” “I’m guessing the prisoners a bad guy takes probably means that they’re the good guy.” Minho sighed, finding a small rock that he then proceeded to throw at the wall.

The voice scoffed, “Or an even worse bad guy.”

Minho froze then, truly wondering if this guy could somehow be worse than Changbin, was that even possible?

“Why, what are you in here for?” Minho asked tentatively, kind of scared to know the answer.

“Being me, I guess.” The voice said, sounding rather dejected. A long silence followed, Minho almost missed the humming.

“So—what’s your name?” Minho asked eventually, the silence was somehow worse. He could hear his own heart beating in the darkness of the cell.

“My friends called me Binnie.” The voice said. Minho’s heart involuntarily clenched at the sadness that poured from the voice.

“How long have you been here?” Minho asked.

“Too long.” The voice—Binnie, replied.

“Okay but like—could you give a rough estimate? Orr—”

The voice sighed, “You are rather infuriating, you know that?”

Minho scoffed, “Says the guy who hums like a deaf cat sitting on a wall in the middle of October with a dead mouse at it’s feet but it’s too sad to eat said mouse because he realized too late that mice are friends, not food.”

There was another string of silence, until Binnie said, “I think I found the reason why you’re in here.”

Minho rolled his eyes, “I won’t be in here for long, my guardian will come to bust me out any minute now.”

“You have a guardian?” Binnie scoffed, “Great job they did, now you’re safely in the hands of a lunatic.”

“It wasn’t his fault!” Minho said defensively, “It was my fault we were there in the first place. This is why I don’t do night clubs.”

Binnie let out a sharp laugh, “Ah yes, night clubs. The dangers of being blacked out drunk, roofied, or getting kidnapped by demons.” he sounded vaguely amused.

“Why, what were _you_ doing when you were captured?” Minho retorted, slightly salty at the guys tone.

“I was on my way to make amends with my boyfriend.” The clipped words came out strained.

“Aww, did he get annoyed at your horrible singing too?” Minho said, mock pity in his voice. It seemed captivity had made him rather snarky.

“Shut up, you don’t know anything about me.” Binnie said defensively, yet somehow sad. It made Minho bite back the next witty comeback about to fall from his lips. He felt the same sadness hitting a chord within him.

“Well, when my guardian comes, maybe I’ll talk him into busting you out too.” Minho said, extending the olive branch at his fellow prison mate. If they were going to be stuck there for a while, there was no point in making more enemies. Besides, he felt sorry for the guy. It seemed he was carrying a lot of baggage of his own.

Binnie laughed unamused, “Don’t worry about it, I’ve already been through one jail break before, what’s one more?”

Minho sat up then, “Hyunjin? Were you here when they rescued Hyunjin?” Minho asked, excited at the connection.

“How do you know Hyunjin?” Binnie’s voice held a grave seriousness that made goosebumps raise on Minho’s arms. He shakily reached out for the bars.

“I know him, Hyunjin’s my best friend’s guardian angel.”

“So Jinnie’s a guardian now,” Binnie said wistfully.

“Jinnie? Did you know him before?” Minho asked, he’d never heard anyone call Hyunjin “Jinnie” asides from Seungmin. Surely a random cellmate wouldn’t start calling you by a nickname. Though he supposed “Binnie” sort of sounded like a nickname too. Was it common prisoner lingo to tell other prisoners your nickname instead?

“I’ve know Jinnie for a long time, he was friends with my boyfriend. I’m glad he got out of his hell hole.” Binnie said bitingly.

Minho’s mouth gaped open, “Your boyfriend is friends with Hyunjin?”

Binnie gave a hum of agreement, “His name is Felix.”

Minho’s mouth dropped even further, “I didn’t know Felix had a boyfriend! How come they—” Minho cut himself off abruptly. _How come they didn’t save you? _Died on his lips. Minho couldn’t imagine why the angel wouldn’t have gone after his very own boyfriend, surly he’d have noticed Binnie’s disappearance, right? And the notion that Felix didn’t come to save his very own boyfriend made Minho scared, _what if Jisung doesn’t come for me? _

“How come they didn’t tell me?” Minho finished instead, voice quiet. 

“Maybe they wanted to forget.” Binnie matched Minho’s melancholy. The two sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts. 

“Surely Jisung will come for me, right? And I’m sure once we’re both out of here, Felix’ll be happy to—” Just then a loud bang came from down the hall. Minho jumped away from the bars.

“Wait, what did you just say? Jisung? You know Jisung?” Binnie’s voice called urgently, but Minho was too busy watching with increasing fear as two demon guards strolled towards his cell.

“Hello little princeling.” One of the demon’s said in a sickeningly fake sweet voice. “The boss wants to see you now.” They opened Minho’s cell, Minho frozen in place as they stalked towards him. Binnie was still yelling at him, but his brain wasn’t processing his words.

Minho debated for a fleeting moment about somehow dashing past the guards to freedom, but even if he had wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to move. He let the guards grab onto him arms and haul him away.

“Wait—no! Jisung! How do you know Jisung?!” There was a rattling noise, like Binnie was shaking the cell bars, but even if Minho wanted to reply to his frantic questions, he was too scared to open his mouth. The guards grip on his arms were bruisingly tight, and he was worried just what they might do if Minho even slightly misbehaved. So he remained tight-lipped and silent as the guards dragged him on and on down winding hallways_, _but Binnie’s words kept echoing in his head.

“_Jisung! How do you know Jisung?_” The better question was, how did _Binnie _know Jisung?

~

ONE YEAR AGO:

Changbin sighed, plopping down on a bench in his and Felix’s favorite spot. He watched the people mill about, sticking various notes into the wall under Juliet’s balcony. Yeah, one of his and Felix’s favorite place was Casa di Giulietta. Perhaps it was a little cheesy, a little cliché, but they always thought the story of Romeo and Juliet had suited them quite well. A little _too well. _

They were in the middle of a fight again, it was the same fight every time. The couple didn’t argue much, but when they did, it wasn’t about trivial matters such as wanting to watch different movies at the movie theatre, or Changbin stealing too much of Felix’s food off his plate at restaurants.

It was common knowledge that demons and angels were not suppose to fall in love. It was a stigma they couldn’t escape from. Changbin was never allowed into Heaven, and Felix hated the stuffiness of Hell, so the two would escape to the human realm for solace. The human realm was the only place they could be without having to worry about Changbin being a demon, and Felix being an angel, and both being’s being deeply in love. Changbin wanted to hold Felix’s hand, show him around some of his favorite spots of Hell (surprisingly, there were some pretty nice places if you knew where to look), and he knew Felix had wanted to do the same with Heaven, but this grand unforeseen force that said demons and angels were to be separate, started to eat at their hearts.

Felix was careful with whom he told about his relationship with a demon, as far as Changbin knew, he’d only told Hyunjin, not even Jaehyun knew because Felix was scared of what the leader of angels might say. Scared that Jaehyun would force them to be apart forever.

Changbin was a little more carefree with who he told about dating an angel. He loved Felix, and he wanted everyone to know that. It made him sad that he couldn’t show off his beloved boyfriend to everyone, so he’d talk nonstop about Felix instead. He could chat Jisung and Chan’s ears off about the boy, but eventually their moaning and groaning about his nonstop chatter got annoying for Changbin to hear, and he found different outlets to tell. He’d talk to Yugyeom sometimes, one of the guardians of the entrances to Hell, since he knew the other couldn’t leave, and was forced to stand there and listen to Changbin chatter. He’d talk to the maknae, Jeongin about Felix, but the maknae tended to make faces and gagging sounds when Changbin went too far into detail and Chan would come and hit him upside the head for defiling the youngest’s ears.

If Changbin was drunk enough at one of the demon bars, he’d find himself starting to blabber on about his “super hot angel boyfriend with the most adorable freckles that can definitely smite any of you low lifers with a single touch.” The other demons at the bars didn’t quite like hearing about that, though Changbin couldn’t fathom _why_.

He pouted at his spot on the bench. An older lady came by then, she must have sensed his distress, for she held out a paper and pen to him encouragingly, gesturing towards the wall where other’s were placing their written notes.

Changbin gave the lady a small smile, accepting the paper and pen. He had so much to say to Felix, he wanted the angel to know exactly how he felt, so he got to work, writing his heart out to Felix.

The reason of their argument this time was still the same, Changbin knew Felix loved him, but he also knew it was harder on the angel than it was on him. Angel’s specifically had a superiority complex amongst, well, basically all other creatures. Changbin knew Felix wasn’t like that, not in the slightest, but when you’re surrounded by those kinds of believers everyday, listening to their hatred of demons, it becomes taxing on the heart. Felix was scared, Changbin knew, but no matter what he said to Felix, the angel’s fear wouldn’t reside.

“_I wish I could just be with you, Binnie, without all these secrets.” _

“_Then don’t fight it, why are we hiding? Who cares what everyone else thinks? I love you, Lix.”_

_“You know it’s not that easy. What if Jaehyun finds out, what if he forces us to be apart? What if—they cast me out of Heaven?” _

_“So what if they cast you out, Lix? Then we can live among the humans, we can be together.”_

“_No, Bin. I won’t be cast out of Heaven. I _can’t_.”_

Changbin had stormed out then, heart tearing at Felix’s words. The angel was implying that being an angel in grace was more important than his love for Changbin. Changbin loved Felix _so much, _why couldn’t the angel feel the same?

Changbin finished writing his note, and slipped it between a loose brick in the wall. He had a renewed burst of determination. He didn’t care what the consequences were, he wasn’t going to let Felix slip away from him. The other angels and demons could fuck themselves, but there was only one person Changbin wanted to fu—

“Well, hello.” A sultry voice called out from behind him. Changbin turned around to see what appeared to be a human. Though he was sure he hadn’t seen his face before, why did the guy seem kind of familiar?

“Hello?” Changbin greeted back, frowning. Humans usually didn’t talk to him.

The sun was almost fully set by then, the last of the tourists were trickling out of the courtyard, leaving behind only a few stragglers, Changbin and the man included.

“What brings you to the infamous Casa di Giulietta?” The man asked, leaning back on his heels to look up at Juliet’s balcony.

_Is this guy really making small talk? _Changbin thought incredulously.

“Um, I’m just—here to think.” Changbin said.

The guy gave a hum, “A lover’s quarrel, perhaps?”

Changbin eyed him with an is-this-guy-serious? look. “Yeah, I guess you could call it that.” Changbin said, debating if it would be rude to just teleport away from the guy when he wasn’t looking. He was just about to do exactly that, when the guy shot a hand out to grip at his arm.

“What the Hell?” Changbin exclaimed, trying to pull away.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.” The man said, and when Changbin looked up into his face, he was met with full black eyes.

“Demon.” Changbin said, surprise wearing off rather quickly into annoyance. “Have we met? I feel like I’ve been around your presence before.” Changbin said suspiciously. The demon was still gripping onto his arm, and Changbin was starting to feel a little wary.

The demon smiled, though there was no amusement in his charcoal eyes, “Last time we met, I recalled you going on and on about this place, and how it was you and your angel boyfriend’s favorite spot in the human realm, so I thought I’d come to check it out. Such misery and heartbreak here, a demon lives off of this shit. This, is the essence of _life_.” The demon grinned maniacally, tightening his grip. 

Changbin cursed, he really should stop drinking alone at demon bars. “Were you hoping to catch yourself an angel boyfriend here, buddy? Cause I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think you’re going to find one with that attitude.”

“I’m not here to romance any angel, I’m here to steal yours.” The demon said with a toothy grin. Cold fear striked through Changbin’s heart. It was one thing to threaten Changbin, but it was another to mess with Felix. His fear that only continued to grow when the demon’s appearance started morphing, until Changbin was left staring open mouthed at—himself.

“Shapeshifter.” Changbin said, defenses immediately going up, but he couldn’t go full demon-mode now, not where there were still human’s present. Before he could so much as protest, the shapeshifter had whisked them both away.

That was the last moment Changbin had been free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAHHHH hopefully that shed some light on some things, my dramatic ass had a lot of fun writing this chapter
> 
> Feel free to scream at me in the comments, I thoroughly enjoy reading all of them (/▽＼*)｡o○♡
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself)


	6. An Angel's Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Felix is visited by a very--special guest, and given a proposition he can't refuse. Meanwhile, all hell breaks loose in Heaven's Miroh.

It had been a while since Felix had taken a trip down to the human realm. Honestly, he’d mostly been afraid to. Afraid of the memories it would bring back, both the bad, and the good.

He and Changbin use to have countless rendezvous in the human realm. The stigma between angels and demons was ever-present, surprisingly even more so now than back then. It was ironic how the demon who had once promised Felix he would change all their minds for the better, ended up changing it for the worse.

Felix hopped from one stone to the next, following the path that lead along the water. The stream was had been one of their favorites. They’d spent countless dates near there, Felix couldn’t help the smile that graced his lips at the thought. But with the good, always came the bad.

He’d scoured the human realm for Changbin when his boyfriend went uncharacteristically missing after months. Felix’s heart had been twisted in agony, since the last time they’d seen each other, they’d been arguing about the same thing they always argued about.

“Hello, young Felix.” A voice called from behind him. Felix turned around, almost losing his footing and toppling into the water. A sturdy hand shot out to steady him.

“T—thanks.” Felix said, though a little warily as he righted himself. “How do you know my name?”

The tall man who stood in front of him seemed timeless. Felix couldn’t tell how old the guy was, he didn’t look old, and yet, he had a wisdom about him that couldn’t have come from a young person. Though Felix guess all supernatural beings were this way, since he himself looked not a day over 20 even if he’d lived for centuries.

“I know all names, Felix, both past, present, and future. I have been around for quite some time now.” The man chuckled like it was an inside joke, dimples adorning his cheeks. Felix instantly relaxed a little more, how could anyone with dimples be evil?

“Pardon my forwardness, but what are you?” Felix asked, already deducting that the man standing before him was not human.

“I’m not an angel, though nor am I a demon. I transcend both planes of space and time.”

Felix’s head was starting to hurt, he felt like he was being spoken to in riddles. He’d never been patient enough for puzzles. “Okaay… but what do you want?” _They always want something_. 

The man shrugged, a rather human gesture that caught Felix off guard. “Nothing, I only want what you want.”

“And that is…?” Felix prompted, slowly loosing the already small amount of patience he had.

“How would I know what it is you truly want, young Felix?” The man was still smiling peacefully, Felix groaned.

“I would _like_ for you to speak clearly.” Felix said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I have a proposition for you,” The man started, he pulled out a jade necklace from his coat. Felix eyes the necklace in awe. It was beautiful, the dark jade color of the pendent hung from its leather chain. “If you wear this necklace, it will take you to where ever you want to be. It can be anywhere in the past, present, or future.” He placed the necklace into Felix’s palm. The angel staring at him curiously.

“Anywhere?” Felix repeated. The man nodded.

“In return, I only wish that you bring something back from me.”

“And what would that be?”

“A prisoner that does not belong.” The man said in his same cryptic fashion. At Felix’s look, the man laughed, “Do not worry, angel. You will know what I seek when you see it.”

Felix looked down at the necklace realizing with a start that the jade was in fact, a clock. The small minute and hours hands made completely from jade itself, and ticking. He could sense the power it emanated from his hand. Nothing about it seemed malicious, and nothing about the man screamed “evil.” And there _was_ a place that Felix was desperate to go.

“Okay, I’ll do it.” Felix said, the man smiled, eyes crinkling in mirth.

“Wonderful, all you must do is wear the necklace around your neck, and think of the place you would like to go to.”

Felix fastened the leather chain around his neck. “Do I at least get your name?” Felix asked, if he was going to be doped by the man, then he at least wanted a name he could curse at.

The man’s smile turned mysterious, his eyes started to shin with a green hue. “My name is Namjoon, Keeper of Time.”

Felix’s mouth dropped open. He’d heard of the Keeper’s before, everyone had. He chastised himself for not putting two and two together earlier. Felix bowed deeply.

“Forgive me, Keeper, I didn’t know who you were.” Felix said ashamed. Keepers were some of the highest beings in the universe. Independent of the classifications of Heaven or Hell, they existed on their own plane all together.

“Do not worry, young Felix, for I know your heart is true.” The Keeper held out an arm, beckoning Felix to right himself. Except, right when he had, he immediately doubled back over when a blaring alarm had starting ringing in his head.

“Something’s wrong in Heaven, Jaehyun—I’m sorry, I need to go.” Felix said, staggering to drag himself to an upright position. He caught Namjoon’s serious gaze, the keeper seemed like he knew exactly what was happening.

“Go, Felix, but my proposition still stands. When you are ready.”

Felix gripped the jade turtle in his hands, nodding once towards the keeper, before disappearing back to Heaven.

~

It was pure chaos when Seungmin, Hyunjin, and a giant demon cat on fire came back through the portal. Hyunjin dully noted that the Miroh was now filled with angels, and an alarm was blaring way too loudly for Hyunjin’s pounding head.

The angels stood gaping at the duo. For a few seconds, no one moved. It was Jaehyun who pushed himself through to the front.

“Hyunjin! What in heavens—what is _that_??” He pulled Hyunjin away from Jeongin protectively, a silver demon blade gleamed at his side. Jaehyun thrust the sword out in front of him at the fiery feline, Jeongin hissed. Hellfire was still emanating off of him, some of it leaking to burn a fiery trail across the floor. Before anyone could move, the fire caught and Hellfire burst throughout the room. Screams rang out among the angel warriors.

“EVERYONE GET OUT.” Jaehyun commanded, gesturing wildly for the angels to leave the room. A few, more loyal angels hesitated, wanting to stay behind to help their leader, while others booked it out of the room. It was then that Hyunjin realized Seungmin wasn’t with them.

“Seungmin—where’s Seungmin??” Hyunjin asked frantically, grasping wildly at Jaehyun as he tried to twist around, looking desperately for the familiar mop of fluffy brown hair, but all he saw were the blue orange flames of Hellfire.

“Jeongin, _stop_!” Hyunjin cried, begging the cat who was now actively destroying the portal to District 9. It seemed the small bat wings atop him served to disburse the flames faster towards their intended target, that being the portal on the wall. The remaining angels stared wide eyed at the sight of the demon literally melting one of the sacred nine portals of Heaven. Though there was nothing sacred about _that_ particular portal. The darker side of Hyunjin said _Let him destroy it, I want to watch it burn, _but the part that was concerned Seungmin hadn’t actually made it out made him see sense. He was about to break away from Jaehyun’s hold and stop Jeongin himself when a voice rang across the room.

“Jeongin!”

Hyunjin’s heart stuttered, whipping around to see a wide-eyed Seungmin standing in the threshold of the Miroh. His hair was in wild disarray. Seungmin pushed his way through the remaining angels, steering clear of the walls of Hellfire that had spouted up across the floor.

Hyunjin clutched onto Seungmin once he’d reached his side. “You’re okay,” the angel breathed out in relief. He cupped Seungmin’s face, eyes skimming over his back to normal skin palette, his chocolate eyes shone with determination.

“He’s destroying the portal.” Seungmin said in dismay, he seemed about to go to the demon, but Jaehyun held up a hand to stop him.

“Let him destroy it.” Jaehyun’s steely voice said, as he watched the scene with a hard look in his eyes. Hyunjin and Seungmin gaped at the angel.

“You _want_ him to destroy the portal?” Hyunjin asked incredulously. He was by no means the portal’s number one fan, but he thought the leader of angels would be the last person to want one of the sacred nine portals destroyed.

Jaehyun didn’t answer, so the three watched on in horrid fascination as the portal was melted to a pulp. The golden frame sagged down like molten lava, dripping golden-black flecks onto the tiled floor. The portal was mangled beyond recognition, they could no longer see the through to the world the portal once held. Jeongin’s flames stuttered before they burned out completely. All the flames in the room went out in a single instance, leaving behind a burning, smoke smell in its wake.

Jeongin huffed, furry head jerking like he’d sneezed. His tiny bat wings fluttered before the giant cat morphed back into the demon form they were more familiar with, and a blue skinned, cat eyed, Jeongin was left staring back at them. Jeongin blinked once, twice, unseeingly before his eyes rolled up and he slumped towards the floor. However, Hyunjin was faster, surging forward to catch the demon before he hit the ground.

It was eerily silent in the room now, without the alarm blaring or the surging sounds of Hellfire. The angels all blinked at each other like “_did that just happen?”_ Hyunjin looked up to meet Jaehyun’s frown.

“Look,” Seungmin said, pointing at Jeongin. A pair of pointy cat ears now rested atop the blue-skinned demon’s head, and small bat wings protruded from his back. They were all so lost in thought that no one noticed when another angel teleported in to join the chaos.

“What the fuck?!” Felix’s voice startled them all, turning to look at the bewildered male. “What the _Hell_ happened to the portal?” Felix exclaimed, pointing accusingly at the mangled remains of District 9. Hyunjin thought he heard someone gasp out a “_Language!” _at Felix’s choice of curse words. “And why does the Miroh smell like a barbeque gone wrong?” The angel sniffled his nose in distaste. “Smells like Hell,” He grumbled, “And I mean that literally!”

“Where have you been?” Jaehyun asked, turning to Felix with crossed arms. Felix gaped at the leader,

“Is that really the most pertinent question right now? Cause I see much more distressing matters at hand!” He said, gesturing wildly towards the passed out demon in Hyunjin’s hands. Though the angel did have a tick, Hyunjin would notice it anywhere. There was something Felix wasn’t letting on.

“You better take Jeongin back to Chan.” Jaehyun said to Hyunjin, who nodded in agreeance.

“I’m coming with you.” Seungmin said, coming to crouch next to Hyunjin and Jeongin, placing a reassuring hand on the angel’s shoulder. Hyunjin smiled at him gratefully. He couldn’t bare the thought of letting Seungmin out of his sight ever again. Even if that meant taking the human back to Hell.

“Is no one going to answer my questions?” Felix asked in exasperation.

“Are you going to answer mine?” Jaehyun asked pointedly back, poised eyebrow raised in the other angel’s direction. Felix sputtered.

“You guys, go ahead. I’m going to have a few words with Felix here.” Jaehyun said, dismissing the angel and his charge. Hyunjin didn’t need to be told twice. He locked eyes with Seungmin, gave the human a reassuring smile, and teleported them back down to Hell.

~

When Jeongin came to, he found himself in the familiarity of Hell’s throne room, laid out on one of his frequented leather couches, right next to the giant Hellfire fireplace. He took in his surroundings, feeling tears of relief well up behind his eyes. There really was nothing quite like home, _sweet home_.

Heaven was great and all, but it wasn’t Jeongin’s cup of tea. It was far too bright all the time, and even if the angels hadn’t known he was a demon—at least in the beginning—they still scowled at him like they knew. He didn’t like it there, the only reason he stayed had been for Seungmin, and partially because he wanted Hyunjin to like him. He wondered if he’d succeeded in his task.

Before he knew it, Chan came barreling around the couch, engulfing Jeongin in a warm, feathery hug.

“Hyung—” Jeongin sputtered, spitting some of Chan’s feathers out of his mouth.

“Jeonginie, don’t you ever leave hyung again, got it?” Chan mumbled into Jeongin’s neck, squeezing tighter. Jeongin could only pat the King reassuringly on the back. He was still feeling rather week from the whole “Demon Hellfire Cat” fiasco.

Chan pulled away then, examining Jeongin’s tired face, before his eyes flitted up to his hair and back down again, hitting Jeongin with a tight-lipped smile. Jeongin, confused, felt something twitch atop his head. His eyes widened when he _felt _something moving there, something he was vaguely aware was in his control.

“Hyung—what—?” Seungmin and Hyunjin’s faces popped up on the other side of the couch. They looked down at Jeongin cheekily. Jeongin felt like he’d been transported to another dimension, but quite the opposite dimension of District 9. In this dimension, he was home, all those he cared about smiling down at him like everything was fine. _Maybe everything is fine_, Jeongin thought, perking up happily. The _thing_ on top his head twitched again but he chose to ignore it for now. The three watching him cooed.

“You’re okay.” Jeongin said to Seungmin, popping up on the couch to pull Seungmin into a hug. The human was back to his normal self, his soul had returned safely to his body. Jeongin was relieved.

“I am, and you, mister, have some secret’s its seems.” Seungmin said, patting the top of his head. Jeongin closed his eyes, reveling in the feeling of being pet, right _there_. He let out a strong purr—his eyes shot open.

Seungmin giggled, “Cute.” He said, “You’re ears are so cute, Jeonginie.”

“Ears…?” Jeongin repeated confusedly, he hesitantly reached a hand to the top of his head, only to gasp when he found two sets of pointy ears. “AH! I’M A MUTANT! WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME??” Jeongin shrieked in dismay, tugging at the ears like he could pull them off as easily as a Halloween costume. It was one thing to occasionally turn into a demon cat—which he had no previous idea he could do, _by the way_—but it was another thing to always _be_ said demon cat.

“You’ve got cute bat wings too.” Hyunjin said, reaching out to flick behind Jeongin, causing the demon to jump when his flick actually hurt. His eyes grew even wider. Flailing his arms behind him trying to touch his so-called “wings.”

“This is not happening—” Jeongin lamented, when he finally made contact with the leathery wings. He looked to Chan imploringly, but his hyung wore a worried smile on his face. 

“We have much to discuss, Jeongin.” Chan said, running a hand through Jeongin’s hair.

A disgruntled yell of frustration came from behind them, Jeongin peered over the couch to see Jisung, furiously working magic at Chan’s desk. Sparks of blue and pinkish hue flew around him, gold lines that curved and intertwined were creeping their way out of Chan’s desk. Jeongin stared open mouthed at the sight. It wasn’t a spell he had ever seen before.

Their smiles quickly turned to those of shock. Hyunjin gasped, “Is that—?”

Jisung looked up then, hands stalling in their push and pull motion, the sparks still fizzled around him. The look he wore shook Jeongin to the bones. Previous happy mood gone as quickly as it had come. It wasn’t a look he’d ever seen Jisung wear before; not when his favorite drama was cancelled, not even when Changbin had gone missing. It was a look of complete and utter despair, loss. If Jeongin didn’t know any better, he’d think Jisung had lost someone extremely precious to him, but they were all right here. Well, everyone except—

“Where’s Minho?” Jeongin chose the wrong moment to ask, the despair curling off of Jisung only increased in waves. He lost control of his magic, sparks shooting out like fireworks, causing Hyunjin and Seungmin to duck before their eyes got blasted by sparks. Chan raised his wings as a shield, successfully covering Jeongin from the outburst. When the bright light died out, they all peeked back up, only to find Jisung had slumped to the ground, head hanging low.

“Oh god,” Seungmin exclaimed, putting two and two together. “He took him, didn’t he?”

Jeongin was a little slow to the take. “Who took him?” His fists clenched. Though he didn’t know Minho all that well, he knew how close Seungmin was with him, and he could tell just by looking at Jisung how much the human meant to his hyung.

Chan spared Jeongin a worried glance, wings stiff. “Changbin.”

“Well, we have to get him back.” Seungmin said frantically, tugging at the hem of Hyunjin’s shirt in dismay. “We have to go back to where he was keeping Hyunjin, we have to save—”

“It’s not that easy. We already tried looking into the place where Hyunjin had been captured. There’s nothing there, they’ve moved.” Chan said tiredly. The heavy bags under his eyes worried Jeongin. He knew his hyung didn’t exactly need to sleep, but this amount of exhaustion couldn’t be good for him.

“Well then we’ll do the same thing we did for Hyunjin, we can track Minho though his guardian bond.” Seungmin said determinedly.

Hyunjin reached out for Seungmin, looking into his eyes. “Because Minho’s guardian is a demon, they don’t have the same bond that we angel’s do, Min.” Hyunjin said, tone empathic.

Seungmin’s wide eyes searched his, “Then—what do we do?”

“That’s what I was working on,” Jisung’s gruff voice came from his spot on the floor. All heads looked in his direction, “I was trying to make the bond stronger, but I can’t—I can’t do it.” His voice broke. “I’m a failure of a guardian.”

“Hey, you’re not a failure.” Hyunjin surprised them all, walking over to crouch down next to the demon. He placed a comforting hand on Jisung’s back. “The most important part of being a guardian, is caring for your charge, to put them above all else, and you’ve done that, Jisung. Though we may not see eye to eye sometimes, or all the time,” he corrected upon seeing Seungmin’s raised eyebrow, “I can’t pretend that I don’t see how much you care about Minho. It’s quite obvious to anyone with eyes. You’re not too great at hiding your emotions, Sung.”

Jisung looked up at the angel then, wavering eyes looking deep into Hyunjin’s. “Will you help me?” Jisung asked, voice fragile, Jeongin’s heart cracked.

Hyunjin gave the demon a small smile, “Of course, what are friends for?” He held out his hand for Jisung to take, which the demon did. Jeongin vaulted off the couch to hug the demon the moment he stood up, almost knocking them both back over.

Jisung gave a small chuckle, “Hey Innie, I missed you.” He crushed the youngest demon in a death hug, Jeongin reciprocated the same amount back. “Nice ears, and wings.” Jisung said with a small smile, patting Jeongin’s head.

Jisung seemed so small like this, asides from the fact that he was smaller than Jeongin, Jeongin had always looked up to the demon. Jisung was headstrong, determined, and confident in his prowess as demon. Jeongin always admired the elder’s strength, both mentally, and physically of course. But now, Jisung seemed small and breakable, and Jeongin wanted nothing more than to help build him back up.

The first step of helping Jisung? Figuring out a way to find Minho.

~

Team Hell (though Hyunjin protested adamantly against the team name, Jeongin eventually wore him out) were hard at work looking through the oldest of spell books, trying to find some way to get to Minho. Seungmin, their resident idea maker, kept spouting out ideas of how to find the boy. Some were okay, but others weren’t even plausible. The human didn’t know much about the inner working of Heaven and Hell’s magic, after all.

“And then, we elongate the giraffe’s neck until he can see all over the world, and we infuse some sort of magic into him so he acts as a Minho beacon, and bam! We ride on the back of a giraffe into battle to kick Changbin’s ass.” Seungmin crossed his arms over his chest, looking pleased.

“The part that scares me the most is that he’s being completely serious.” Chan muttered, shaking his head at the human in disbelief.

“That’s my Minnie, always thinking outside the box.” Hyunjin leaned over to peck at Seungmin’s temple. Jeongin felt a strong tug of jealousy in his gut, but he elected to ignore it, forcibly shoving it aside.

At one point in their searching montage, when Jeongin had gotten a little too frustrated, he could sense the power inside himself just waiting to boil over. In his panic at the sensation, the tingles of an oncoming transformation started to build up inside him. He clamped his eyes shut quickly, dampening down the feeling bubbling inside.

It worked well enough, but he had a sinking feeling that he wasn’t in control of his newfound powers at all. A warm hand rested on his arm, and he turned to see Seungmin giving him a sweet smile. The smile melted Jeongin in a way Hellfire could not. He wanted to coo and squeal at how cute the human was, pinch his cheeks, kiss him—

“Is that you blushing?” Seungmin asked, eyes wide as he watched Jeongin’s dark blue cheeks turn a few shades lighter.

“N—no?” Jeongin tried to turn away, ears pressed back in embarrassment, but Seungmin reached out to turn Jeongin’s head back towards him. The human poked at his light tinged cheeks, and smiled a brilliant, eye-scrunching smile.

“Cute.” Seungmin said. Jeongin wanted to combust (and considering his abilities, he honestly might). Jeongin thought he felt a pair of eyes burning into the back of his head, but when he turned around after Seungmin had felt, he only found Hyunjin, peacefully reading through a spell book.

“I got it!” Jisung’s voice exclaimed. The demon ran towards them, spell book raised into the air. He stumbled over his own feet on the way, Chan barely catching the demon in time before he got up close and personal with the ground. “I got it.” He said again once he’d taken a moment to regain himself, wild grin on his face.

Team Hell huddled around Jisung and the spell book, the demon frantically pointing at a page. “The answer’s right here!” He said triumphantly. The rest leaned in closer.

“… What’s here?” Hyunjin asked.

“The solution to all our problems.” Jisung said, eyes gleaming. The rest shared a confused look.

“Okay, I’m just gonna say it; how is an old spell on astral projection going to help us find Minho? You still won’t know how to find him.” Jeongin said.

“That’s what I thought too, but this spell helps you hone in on someone specifically.” Jisung said excitedly. Jeongin leaned in closer to read the spell.

“But—it says here you can only hone in on a demon. Minho’s not a demon.” Jeongin pointed out regretfully. Jisung and Chan shared a look. “Did I miss something?” Jeongin asked, ears perking up as he picked up on their secret language instantly. This happened all the time, Jeongin being left in the dark, while the Big Three (as Jeongin liked to call them) shared their silent secrets. Though now it was only the Big Two, he supposed. It didn’t have quite the same ring to it.

“Well—Minho’s not exactly—human.” Chan started. The other three gasped. Seungmin looked like the world had been swept out from under him.

“Ah—whaa?” He exclaimed. “He wasn’t human this whole time and he never told me?” Seungmin looked hurt.

“Well, technically—he doesn’t know either.” Chan said, wincing at yet another outburst from Seungmin.

“He doesn’t know?? What is he?” Seungmin demanded.

“He’s a Cambion.” Jisung spoke then, face turned grim.

“And that’s suppose to mean something to me because…?” Seungmin supplied pointedly.

“It means he’s half human, half demon.” Jeongin replied. He had gotten some lessons in demonology, he wasn’t a complete noob. Seungmin stared, Jeongin could practically see the gears turning in his head.

“But still, the spell doesn’t specify what kind of demon you can find. We don’t know if the spell will work on half demons.” Chan frowned.

“I didn’t say I was going to project to Minho.” Jisung said, a certain kind of glint in his eyes.

“Well, then who are you—” Chan faltered, looking up at Jisung with round eyes. He’d clearly figured something out that Jeongin hadn’t.

“Would you guys please finish your sentences? I’m getting tired of being left in the dark.” Jeongin whined. Chan flinched at Jeongin’s words guilty.

Jisung look at them all, a wild glint in his eyes. “We’re not going to try to track down Minho, we’re going to find Changbin.”

~

“Where have you been, Felix?” Jaehyun asked, tone more tired than anything. The two were currently in Jaehyun’s cozy office. One look at the angel and Felix instantly felt bad. He hated worrying Jaehyun, though he knew he had on more than one occasion. When Changbin went missing, he’d finally broken down, he hadn’t been able to hide it from Jaehyun anymore. When the angel asked him what was wrong, Felix spilling everything about his relationship with Changbin between heaving sobs. To his surprise, Jaehyun was only understanding, wasn’t one ounce of disgusted by Felix and Changbin’s relationship at all.

When Felix had asked him why, Jaehyun only shrugged, saying he hated the stigma between angels and demons. Demons were an important aspect to the balance of the world, and who was to say that all demons were inherently bad, or all angels good?

It was one of the many reasons he loved and respected Jaehyun as an angel. Why he couldn’t see anyone else being better fit to lead all of Heaven’s angels. Pride swelled in his heart at the thought. He wouldn’t let Jaehyun down.

“You were in the human realm again, weren’t you?” Jaehyun said more than asked. He already knew the answer. “You were looking for him again.”

“I’m sorry hyung, I—I _miss_ him.” Felix clenched and unclenched his hands, trying hard not to cry, not again. He had to stay strong, if only for Jaehyun’s sake. He didn’t want the angel worrying more than he had to with all the other things on his plate.

Jaehyun’s eyes stared at Felix with nothing but empathy. “I know you do, I don’t blame you for it. But—I’m worried for you.”

_And there it is, the very thing I didn’t want to have to put him through. _

“I’m fine hyung, really.” Felix said, mustering everything he had inside him to be able to truthfully speak it. He was fine, after all. He could be better, but this Felix? He was _fine_. He will be even better when he uses the Keeper’s stone to do what he’s been yearning to for so long.

“Felix—you’ll tell me when you need help, right? You know I’m always here for you?” Jaehyun moved closer, Felix stared into the leader of angel’s eyes, and knew he wouldn’t be able to speak without spilling everything. He needed to keep the Keeper’s request secret, at least until after he’d succeeded in his task.

He nodded, giving Jaehyun a close-lipped smile. Jaehyun smiled back, patting Felix’s hair lovingly.

“Good. Now, I need to figure out some way to tell all the angels what happened, and that the portal to District 9 is destroyed, for good.” Jaw clenched, Jaehyun walked out of the office. Felix stood still for a beat, or two, making sure the angel was really gone before he pulled the jade necklace out from under his shirt.

He stared at it, feeling it’s cool weight in his palm. _This is it, Felix. It’s now or never. _Determined, he closed both hands around the jade turtle before closing his eyes.

_“Think of the place you would like to go to.” _The Keeper’s voice echoed in his head. But it wasn't so much a place Felix wanted to go, but a person. 

_Take me to Changbin. Take me to find him. _


	7. The Astral Plane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so sorry this chapter took me 5ever to write, I kinda had a lil bit of writer's block for where I wanted this story to go. So after many different edits--I think I'm finally ready to share this chapter. Thank you all for sticking with me and this story for so long! <3

Minho was being dragged through what appeared to be a forest. It wasn’t at all what he had been expecting when they emerged out of the dark cells. He had expected them to be in a building, perhaps, but was shocked when the cool wind whipped at him, the leaves crunching beneath their feet as the guards hauled him through the trees.

The wind was violently strong, Minho wasn’t sure how it was possible since there were so many trees everywhere, and wouldn’t they block the snapping wind? He imagined without the guards there pulling him along, he might had been hanging onto a tree for dear life as the wind threatened to whisk him away.

On second thought—maybe that wasn’t the worst option.

The trees gave way to a clearing, cobbled stone lined the floor, though the unruly foliage of the forest poked through, fighting to overtake the manmade (or demon made, Minho wasn’t sure how long this place had been here) glade.

They were either in an extremely poorly made structure of sorts, or the ruins of one. There were broken pillars of tanned stone lining the outskirts of the glade. A memory of rooms long forgotten as the forest ate them up. In the center of the glade, was Changbin. The demon stood calmly, watching with a maniacal glee in his eyes as the guards brought Minho closer.

One of the guards kicked at the back of Minho’s leg. He let out a gasp, no choice but to fall on his knees to the ground. He looked up at Changbin warily.

“Minho, so nice of you to finally accept my invitation for tea.” Changbin snapped his fingers, and two cups of tea, along with an entire table and chairs, manifested itself between them. Minho found himself sitting in a chair, but he couldn’t move any of his limbs. It was as if they were tied there with invisible string. It was like an Alice on Wonderland tea party gone bad.

“Didn’t know it was tea you’d be serving, otherwise, I would have come sooner.” Minho said irreverently.

Changbin chuckled, lifting his cup daintily to sip. Minho couldn’t even enjoy his tea, seeing as he had no functioning hands to lift his cup. Though would he even want to drink tea that Changbin had served him? For all he knew, it could be poisoned. _There’s the roofied part of Binnie’s nightclub dangers._

“I do hope you found your living quarters somewhat pleasant, I did tell my guards to make sure they closed all the windows so you wouldn’t get a cold.” Changbin tittered.

“Cut the shitty small talk Changbin, what do you want from me?” Minho asked exasperatedly. He was tired of being pushed around, of feeling scared, he just wanted to know why all this was happening to him.

Changbin raised an eyebrow, he leaned well across the table so he was less than a foot away from Minho’s face. Minho subconsciously pushed himself back, though the confines in his seat were not helping his escape much.

“Asides from me just wanting a piece of you in general,” Changbin licked his lips as his eyes raked up towards Minho’s eyes. Minho suppressed the urge to gag in disgust. “I need you for a very _important_ mission.”

“And what mission is that?” Minho asked. For a second, it looked like Changbin was going to lean even closer to the boy, but to his relief, Changbin seated himself back into his own chair.

“To summon Lucifer to me.” Changbin spread his arms, a wide grin on his face. Minho wasn’t sure whether to laugh or simply stare at Changbin like the whack job that he was.

“Lucifer is real?” Minho started, Changbin opened his mouth to reply, but Minho barreled on “Either way, how on earth would I help you summon him?”

Changbin let out a burst of crazy, too-loud laughter. He was laughing for so long, the guards around them started to give uncomfortable chuckles as well, like they were hoping by doing so it would ease the awkward tension. It didn’t.

When Changbin finally recollected himself, wiping actual tears from his eyes, he faced Minho dead on. “Because, my dear boy, you are his son.”

Minho gaped at the demon, “Oh my god, you’re actually insane. I’m not Lucifer’s son.”

“Are you sure about that?” Changbin asked, voice void of emotion. Minho’s mind was reeling.

“I sent a demon after you once, you may remember it.” Changbin held out a beckoning hand, and the same tree skeleton monster than had chased after Minho that night at the ball came stomping out of the clearing. It stood menacingly in the far too near distance.

Minho gasped, unable to tear his gaze away from the monster. “That was you?”

Changbin preened. “Indeed, and it gave me all I needed to know. No meer human would be able to so much as scratch the demon of that caliber, but you did.”

Minho thought back to that night, he remembered hearing a crack after he’d kicked the demon off of him. He hadn’t thought much of it then, was just glad to have gotten away. He figured maybe it was his strong ass thighs that had gotten him through it. _Never skip leg day, folks. _

Even still, he wasn’t convinced that he was Lucifer’s son. If Lucifer was even real. What he _was_ convinced of, was Changbin’s ludicrousy. 

“Like I said before, you’re _insane_.” Minho spat out at the demon. Changbin frowned at him, before whipping out a knife. Minho reeled back, kind of regretting egging the demon on. Changbin was out of his chair and by Minho’s side in a millisecond. He grabbed hold of one of Minho’s hands, who tried with a squeal to pull away, but to no avail. Changbin slashed out, leaving a clear line down Minho’s palm. Black blood started to pool at the wound, and Minho could only gape at the sight.

“Am I insane now?” Changbin said. Minho could only stare at the droplets of black blood that trickled down his hand. Had his blood always been black? He couldn’t remember the last time he’d hurt himself enough to draw blood.

All at once, he remembered the night at the club. Jisung’s voice saying his blood was black. Minho hadn’t exactly been the most sober then, his mind was a haze, not quite able to pinpoint why that statement had sounded wrong. Jisung seemed surprised when he’d said it, leading him to believe that if he wasn’t human, his guardian demon surely didn’t know.

“Don’t worry Minho-ah,” Changbin said, voice coming out sweetly forced, tone resembling a three year old. “I won’t kill you, I’ll only hurt you enough to get Lucifer to exchange you for anything I want.” The demon’s eyes gleamed, and suddenly, Minho found himself positioned on top of the table. He struggled to sit up, but again, invisible forces were tying him down. He liked this position a lot less that the chair.

Changbin finally came into his vision near his head, and Minho really didn’t like the crazed look the demon hand, his eyes full black, staring down at Minho with a smile. In his hand, he held an extremely sharp looking metal stick. It wasn’t a knife, but Minho wasn’t sure which he preferred.

“I’ll need to spill enough of your blood to be able to summon Lucifer to me. Don’t worry, I’ll only slash _one_ of your wrists.” Changbin, true to his word, sliced Minho’s vulnerably awaiting wrist, the boy cried out in pain. What felt like a stream of blood started pouring down his arm, and he hated the feeling. He thought he might throw up.

“Now if I could just tap into your powers…” Changbin placed the needle end of the stick at his temple, and Minho froze. Wanting more than anything to squirm away but afraid one wrong move and he’d lose an eyeball, or worse. Changbin pressed in the tip with increasing force until Minho could feel a trickle of blood slipping towards his eyes. The more pressure the demon put to pierce through Minho’s skin, the louder Minho screamed.

~

“And, that’s the last candle.” Jeongin said, standing up after placing the candle at the 5th point of the pentagram. Everything was in place for the projection spell.

“Now all we need is something of Changbin’s.” Jisung said. Chan stepped forward, holding Changbin’s plushie Gyu that they had gotten for Changbin decades ago. Changbin had treasured the plushie like it was his own child. Jisung and Jeongin use to tease him about it all the time, but Changbin never gave him up, only cuddled Gyu closer.

“He kind of looks like an off brand version of Jeongin.” Seungmin said, voice amused. Hyunjin snickered.

“Hey!” Jeongin pouted.

“Don’t worry Innie, you’re still cuter.” Seungmin said, Jeongin sputtered.

“The old Changbin would have killed us for even so much as touching Gyu.” Jisung said wistfully, sad smile playing on his lips.

“Now, he might just kill us for no reason.” Jeongin said wistfully. They all looked at him with shocked expressions. “Sorry, too soon?”

“You’re up, Sung.” Chan said, handing Gyu over to the demon. Jisung took Gyu in his arms, and looked at each of them with a small, determined smile set on his lips.

“Wish me luck.” Jisung said.

“You’ve got this, Sungie hyung!” Jeongin said, raising his hands in supporting fists.

“Fighting!” Hyunjin exclaimed. Jisung scoffed, stepping into the pentagram. His image wavered a bit, demons stepping into pentagrams was not a light task. Jisung laid himself down across the middle of the pentagram, Gyu securely wrapped up in his arms. He looked peaceful as he closed his eyes, Jeongin could almost pretend he was sleeping, but they all knew that was a far cry from what was actually happening. The remaining members of Team Hell held their breaths, as Jisung’s form flickered, and he entered the astral plane.

~

When Jisung opened his eyes, he was met with darkness, and a stench that permeated his senses so strongly he forgot he wasn’t physically there. _Quite the hideout this is._ Jisung thought, squinting to make sense of his surroundings, Gyu still clutched protectively in his arms.

He realized where he was standing was a hallway of sorts, lined with metal bars resembling a prison. _Wait—this _is_ a prison._ Jisung thought, eyes growing wide. _If this is a prison, maybe it’s where Changbin is keeping Minho!_ Jisung ran from cell to cell, peering through the bars in hopes of finding his Minho—err—his charge. To his dismay, all the cells were empty. He would have called out Minho’s name, but he knew in his astral state no one would be able to hear or see him.

He was about to give up when he heard a cry sounding somewhere near him. Jisung whirled around, following where he thought the sound was coming from. He stopped, frozen in his tracks when he caught sight of just what was behind the bars. It was Felix—the angel himself, and in his arms was Changbin, but it wasn’t the Changbin Jisung knew. This Changbin wasn’t polished with his hair slicked back and in a suite, nor was he the friendly, slightly irritating Changbin that had been his best friend for decades. This Changbin was beaten down, face smeared in dirt and what looked alarmingly close to demon blood. His eyes were bloodshot, clothes tattered and ripped to the point where he might as well have been wearing nothing. This Changbin was the Changbin of his nightmares: the Changbin he had failed to save. 

Jisung could only stare at the duo in disbelief. Thousands of questions flying through his mind as he watched the scene unfurl before him. Changbin sobbed as he clung onto Felix, his fingers bloodied and caked in dirt. The angel emitted a glow that was softer than usual, his face contorted in worry and confusing as he clung onto Changbin.

This Changbin was a far cry from the preening Changbin he had seen not a month ago who had threatened to take Minho from him, and Jisung couldn’t wrap his head around it.

“Felix, _Lix_,” Changbin’s voice was rougher than Jisung had ever heard it. The sheer amount of desperation laced in one name made Jisung heart stop.

“It’s me Binnie, I’m really here.” Felix said, eyes wide as he caressed the demon’s matted hair. 

Changbin shook his head weakly, “No, I must be dreaming, an angel only ever visits me in my dreams. He’s the only one that chases the demons away.”

“Binnie, what happened to you?” Felix asked, voice strained.

Changbin smiled up at Felix, a smile Jisung had seen so often before, not an ounce of malice threatened behind it, unlike the only smile Changbin had given ever since he’d disappeared. “I’ve been waiting for you, Lix. I knew my angel would come to save me.”

“Binnie, _listen_. How long have you been here?” Felix squeezed Changbin shoulders in urgency.

“He asked me the same question.” Changbin mumbled, eyes shining as he stared at the angel.

“Who did?” Felix asked.

“The new guy, they took him away a while ago. I hope he’s okay, I rather liked him. He talked about Jisung, but they took him away.”

There was only one person that could be. And though Jisung didn’t understand a single thing that was going on, he trusted that Changbin would lead him to Minho. He walked through the bars, hoping that Changbin would say more about it.

“Binnie—what’s going on? What happened to you?” Felix asked, his hands cupping Changbin’s face. Jisung could tell the angel was worried about hurting him, his touch light as he wiped some grime off of Changbin’s cheeks.

Changbin shook his head, tears brimming his eyes, “It was a shapeshifter, Lix. It has been the whole time. I don’t know what he’s done, but based on snippets I’ve heard, I know it’s not good. And the jackass has been parading around with _my_ face on him.” Changbin grumbled, fists clenching in Felix’s shirt.

Jisung’s mind was reeling, he stepped back in shock. Changbin, _his_ Changbin had been here the whole time? And what had they done to help him? _Nothing, nothing at all. You’ve left him to rot here while an impostor took his place and tortured him, and you did nothing._

“You mean—you’ve been here the whole time? The Changbin who killed those angels, it wasn’t you?” Felix asked.

Changbin’s eyes grew wide, “That’s what he did? Killed angels?” Changbin asked incredulously, angrily. It was him who wiped the tears away from Felix’s face now, though leaving a trail of dirt behind, across the angel’s freckled cheeks. Felix caught his wrist, bringing it to his heart.

“I’m so _sorry_ Binnie, I—”

But Jisung didn’t wait around to hear the rest of Felix’s words. For a scream sounded, a voice all too familiar causing his blood to freeze over at the sound. _Minho._

Jisung whipped towards the sound of the scream, trying to figure out where it was coming from. It sounded distant, not near enough to be coming from the cells. He took one last worried look at his best friend, wrapped up in his angel’s arms, and knew who needed him more at the moment.

Jisung took off, Gyu dropping to the floor as he all but ran towards the sound of the screaming, the screaming that grew louder and more desperate the longer it took Jisung to reach him.

From that point on, everything was a blur. The only thing Jisung could focus on what following the sound of Minho’s screams, hoping he wasn’t too late, hoping he could still save him._ At least save one of the people I love. _

He came into a clearing of sorts, vaguely registering that he was in a forest. The screams were agonizingly loud now, Jisung wanted to plug his ears as they rang in his eardrums. He staggered closer, through broken stone pillars, disgusted and horrified by the sight before him.

There was Minho, tied down on a table, long, thin, metal spikes protruded from his temples and along his forehead. Red-black blood streamed down his face in ringlets, his eyes were shut tight in pain.

Jisung gasped, tears welling in his own eyes at the sight. There was Changbin, or _fake_ Changbin, as it was now clear to Jisung. He wondered how he’d ever mistaken that monster for his best friend. There was no way in Heaven or Hell that Changbin could ever be that cruel, and Jisung should have known it.

He staggered forward, closer to Minho, wanting to deny everything he was seeing, but he couldn’t. Minho’s face was twisted in pain, streaks of tears mixed in with his blood as it painted his face like a watercolor. Like a train wreck, he couldn’t look away.

“Minho,” He breathed out once he’d reached his side. He reached out a hand to touch Minho, he wanted to provide him some comfort, he wanted to save him, take him away from all the pain and never let him leave his sight ever again. He wanted to kill the shapeshifter, more than he’d ever wanted to hurt anyone ever before. His vision grew red as he turned towards the monster doing this, whose eyes were filled with sadistic glee.

Jisung went to punch him, a little part of him knew it wouldn’t do anything, he was astral projecting after all, but he couldn’t leave Minho like this, he needed to do _something_. Before he could do anything, Minho’s screaming cut off short. Jisung anger quickly gave way to panic.

_Minho, no, you can’t die. I can’t lose you—_Jisung reached out to stroke his face, to feel for his heartbeat, _anything_, but his hand never made contact, disappearing through the boy as he tried over and over to touch him. Jisung sobbed, ugly tears blurring his vision.

It was at that moment that Minho’s eyes shot open. Black eyes, those of a demon. The wind picked up tenfold around them, though Jisung couldn’t feel it, he could see the effects that the wind had. Whipping Minho’s hair around his face, pushing the shapeshifter back as he stared, eyes boggled at the sight. The metal rods protruding from Minho’s face started inching out of his skin until they clattered one by one onto the ground.

Jisung stepped back when Minho sat upright, his unseeing black eyes turned towards the shapeshifter, white wisps Jisung hadn’t noticed were surrounding the pavilion inched forwards, and he realized with a start they weren’t wisps at all, but spirits.

“I—I don’t understand!” The shapeshifter spat out, trying hard to keep his ground as the wind persisted on pushing him away. Jisung’s already fading vision started to falter, his time was running out. He looked around for Gyu, his tether, only to realize he’d somehow lost him.

Jisung stared wide-eyed as Minho cocked his head at the shapeshifter, and a strong gust of wind blew the demon straight off his feet.

“Minho!” A voice called out, not Jisung’s. He turned to see Felix and Changbin, the real Changbin, enter the clearing. Changbin was looking a lot better than he had been minutes ago, his paper white skin lined with flowing red markings, he’d managed to go into full demon form. Gyu was clutched protectively in one hand.

Before Jisung could see anything else, his vision went black completely.

~

“Jisung! Hyung!”

Jisung gasped as he bolted upright, breathing fast. Hands shot out to hold onto him, and he started struggling on instinct. He had to get back to Minho, Changbin—

“Ji!” Chan called to him. “Are you okay? What happened?”

Jisung looked around to see the worried faces of his friends. He was back in Hell, inside the pentagram, the candles still flickering at each point—but Gyu was gone.

“I—I saw Changbin.” Jisung started, not able to process his whirlwind thoughts.

“What he with Minho?” Seungmin’s voice came, face steeled for the worse.

Jisung shook his head frantically, “It was all a mistake, he’s been there the whole time. It wasn’t him who killed all those angels.”

Everyone shared a look at each other, clearly not understanding what he was trying to say.

“What do you mean Jisung? Changbin? I saw him myself, I was there when he killed them.” Hyunjin said, Jisung turned to him.

“No, it wasn’t our Changbin, it was a shapeshifter, this whole time. He’s had Changbin captured, he used him to—”

“You’re telling me, that our Changbinnie was held captive by a shapeshifter for a year?” Chan’s asked, His eyes were wide, wings furling and unfurling behind him as his silver markings streaked with electric intensity.

Jisung nodded.

And we did nothing to save him.” Chan looked down, hands clenched alarmingly tight.

“Minho, where’s Minho?” Seungmin asked again, hands now on Jisung’s shoulders.

“The shapeshifter—he was torturing him.” Jisung started, voice meek, “but then Minho—I think his powers kicked in. Right before I came back, Felix and Changbin were there.”

“Felix?” Hyunjin asked incredulously.

“Where are they?” Chan asked. All eyes turned to Jisung.

“They were in a forest. I don’t know where though,” Jisung said angrily, upset he still didn’t know where they were. Jisung struggled to stand up, pushing the others off of him as they tried to help him.

“Did you see anything unusual?” Hyunjin asked.

“They were in a ruin of some sort, stones. In a forest. And—there were spirits. I could see them. They started surrounding the place when Minho got his powers.”

Chan’s black wings stretched wide, startling the rest of them.

“Spirits? A stone ruin in a forest? I think I know where they are.” The demon king said, right when Hyunjin gasped.

“They can’t be—they’ve been in Heaven this whole time?” Hyunjin asked, eyes wide.

“What? How can demons be in Heaven?” Seungmin asked. “Well, asides from the fact that you were able to go there Innie.”

Jeongin shrugged, “I was a special case I guess. Besides, I got in from the forest. That isn’t a demon free space.”

“He’s right, the forest that surrounds Heaven is kind of a no man’s land. It’s where some human souls go to wander, it’s got some strange creatures out there too. That’s why we have guards that guard the outskirts of the forest from where we are.”

“You’re telling me, you share Heaven with a bunch of monsters?” Seungmin squeaked in question.

Hyunjin looked at him gravely, and shrugged, “We’re angels, we can handle it.

“We need to tell Jaehyun.” Chan said, already flying towards his office.

“No need,” A voice came from the entrance way. All heads whipped towards the sound to see the leader of angels himself standing there. “I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.”

They all stood in shock as Jaehyun unsheathed a dazzling gold sword hanging from his back, face grim.

“Jaehyun—?” Chan started, the only one daring to take a step towards the angel. Jaehyun's sword immediately thrust out in Chan’s direction. Jisung thought he could almost see the second the king’s heart cracked.

“Hyung, what’s going on?” Hyunjin’s small voice piqued up from the back. His eyes were wide as he took in his hyung’s sword turned on all of them.

Jaehyun looked at Hyunjin sadly, “I’m sorry Jinnie, it was the only way.”

“The only way for—what?” Hyunjin asked, voice wavering.

“For a Nephilim to be born.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *upside down smiley face* now for more plotting haaaa
> 
> And as always, kudos and comments are much appreciated!! <3
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself)


	8. The Cavalry Arrives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe, I enjoyed watching you all freak out in the comments  
I guess it's true what they say--writers are a tad (a lot?) sadistic

“Wha—what are you talking about?” Hyunjin sputtered, Seungmin and Jeongin instinctively moved closer to the angel’s side in hopes of comforting him.

Jaehyun’s eyes looked sad, “I was tired of it, the prejudice between angels and demons. We’re really not that different from each other. We may reside in quite opposite places such as heaven and hell—but the work we do, the _things _we do for it—is it really all that different? And why can’t we love,” Jaehyun’s voice broke on the word, his eyes flashed to Chan’s for a second, before he looked away, “Who we want to love?” He muttered the last part more to himself, but they all still heard.

“Jaehyun—what did you do?” Chan asked, voice steeled for the worst. The angel looked at him, a humorless smile on his lips.

“What would the King of Hell think at the deeds that I’ve done?” Jaehyun’s sword wavered a bit, like his resolve was breaking.

“Did you know Changbin had been taken captive? Did you know the whole time that the shapeshifter wasn’t really him?” Chan asked, voice strained. Jisung stood close by, his eyes wide as he stared in shock at the duo.

Jaehyun wouldn’t meet the king’s eyes, which was answer enough. Chan’s wings shriveled in on themselves, a tangible devastation emanated around him.

“How _could you?_” Jisung accused, fists clenching and unclenching in anger.

“It wasn’t always like this, this wasn’t how it was suppose to be—” Jaehyun started, but Hyunjin’s voice cut him off.

“Does that mean—those angel’s the shapeshifter killed, that was on you?” His eyes wavered with unshed tears. Seungmin clutched onto his arm, Jeongin looked ready to kill, his ears were twitching nonstop.

“I thought I could do it. I thought mixing demon blood with angel blood would do the trick, but after the first two failed, I wanted to stop, I told the demon to stop, but he didn’t.”

“Why did you let him go?” Hyunjin accused, a few tears finally slipping down his cheeks, Jaehyun gave his angel a woeful look, filled with guilt and sadness.

“I tried to, but—”

“But you couldn’t tell anyone what you had done, or you’d risk your spot as leader of angels.” Chan stated, voice void of emotions. Jaehyun looked at him pleadingly.

“You have to understand, I never wanted things to go this far, I stopped right after those angels—”

“But the fact that you _didn’t_ do anything means something to.” Chan accused. His wings inky black wings had drooped down behind him, disappointment and devastation clear.

Jisung squeezed his eyes shut for a second, only to open them in panic before closing them again. Seungmin looked at the demon quizzically, and Jisung shuffled over towards the trio.

“I tried to flash out of here, but I can’t.” Jisung whispered frantically. Hyunjin stood blankly for a few seconds, before his shoulders tensed.

“I can’t either.” He muttered back.

“Let us out of here! We need to kill that shapeshifter.” Jeongin yelled at Jaehyun, eyes starting to burn with fire. Chan turned towards him them, a worried look in his eyes.

“Jeongin—”

“If you wanted him to stop, why are you keeping us here?” Seungmin spoke up.

Jaehyun started towards them, sword still thrust out in front of him. “I realized after, that killing angels wouldn’t make a Nephilim, but perhaps—a Cambion can. Don’t you see? This is our chance to set things right!” Jaehyun looked delirious, Seungmin took a step back to be safe.

“Minho—what did you do to him?” Jisung growled out, looking like he was second away from charging the angel, sword be damned.

“Nothing yet, but if Felix and Changbin are also there, then it’s only a matter of time.” Jaehyun’s eyes gleamed, he turned to Chan, “And then, we can finally be together—” His sword faltered when he turned towards Chan, and it was all the Demon King needed to disarm the sword from Jaehyun’s grasp. With a thrust of his hand, the sword went flying.

The leader of angels looked like his favorite hamster had just died, “Channie—”

“GO!” Was all Chan said towards the rest of them. Jisung, Hyunjin, and Jeongin looked hesitant, like they didn’t want to leave the king to fight, but Seungmin saw the bigger picture at hand, he saw what was at stake.

“Guys—we need to go if we want to get to them before something happens.” Seungmin tugged on Hyunjin’s arm, effectively capturing the angel’s attention. Hyunjin looked torn between Seungmin’s words, and the palpable amount of tension swirling around the room from the two leaders of Heaven and Hell.

“Yeah let’s—let’s go.” Hyunjin said, surprising Jeongin by reaching for his hand. “Sungie? You coming?”

Jisung gave one last look at the leader of angels and King of Hell, before walking towards the three. “Yeah, let’s save our friends.”

~

Felix felt woozy, not only because so much had been thrown on him in roughly the past 10 minutes, but also because he’d let Changbin drink some of his angel blood to regain his powers. Turns out, Changbin was a lot weaker than Felix had thought, and therefore, took a lot more blood than he had thought. 

His hand was clutched protectively in Changbin’s and he was grateful for that, considering the world was spinning ever so slightly. It almost looked as if Minho had black eyes, and was somehow the one causing the shapeshifter to be blown off his feet, over and over again. It almost looked like there were mortal spirits surrounding them, but that was ridiculous, because the only place that could possibly hold that many mortal sprits was—

“Ohmygod,” Felix breathed, “I know where we are.”

How had he not noticed it before? The forest’s trees? The slightly too green color of their leaves, the stone ruins they were currently standing on, the day lit sky without a sun—of course they were standing in the outskirts of Heaven.

Felix closed his eyes, trying to ground himself to the land. He could feel Changbin’s energy pulsing through his hand, he silently willed his boyfriend (boyfriend? Could he still call him that? Was Changbin done with him after he’d abandoned him in a prison for so long? _Stop that Felix, your relationship problems will have to be dealt with later) _to help him out, to lend him some energy.

Changbin understood, and Felix instantly felt the flow of his demonic energy coursing through him like water from a faucet. The angel straightened up, glow a little brighter now from the boost.

Minho was toying with the shapeshifter, letting the monster get back onto his feet before he’s summon the gales to blow him back down again. Felix wasn’t sure how he was doing it, but judging from his black demon eyes he was guessing he must have missed out on something.

“That bastard better not have turned Minho into a demon.” Felix muttered, squeezing his hand in Changbin’s.

“Somehow—I don’t think that’s the case.” Changbin said back, voice distant. “Ay, you ugly piece of shit!” Changbin called out, the shapeshifter turned to look at him, snarling all the while.

“Perhaps not the best insult Binnie? I mean, he does look exactly like you after all.” Felix pointed out, not all that helpfully. Bin chose to ignore him.

“Well well, looks like my favorite prisoner got out, and you brought an _adorable_ angel to the party, how _exciting._” The shapeshifter grinned, there was a trail of blood oozing down his face, but still he looked just like Changbin—if you ignored the maniacal look in his eyes.

At the distraction, Minho seemed to be brought back to the present, he blinked several times, his eyes returning back to normal. _That’s not good, _Felix thought, if Minho lost his power’s he’d be helpless.

“Distract the demon for me, I’m going to get Minho.” Felix whispered to Changbin, he gave his hand one last squeeze before they broke apart. Felix had only just started to walk away when more monsters entered the clearing. He should have known it wouldn’t have been that easy. The outskirts of heaven was home to many creatures, and not all of them—in fact most of them, were unfriendly.

“I suppose you’re all working for this sleezebag, aren’t you?” Felix asked the group of three snallygasters blocked his path. They looked like the ugly cousins of dragons, giant fish eyes boggling out of their heads. Felix wondered if they could even see anything. But their teeth, now that was a real threat. The beasts snapped their jaws, sharp teeth easily bigger than Felix’s head, snarling at the angel, who only glowed brighter at the danger, an angel blade appeared in his hand at will. Before he could do anything however, a few more people joined their party.

“Felix!” Hyunjin’s voice called out to him, Felix whipped around in surprise, expecting Hyunjin to be the last person he’d see there. His distraction was a mistake, however, when one of the snallygasters flicked their long tails forwards like a whip and Felix fell to the group with a grunt. He didn’t have too long to be stunned however, when another snallygaster lurched forwards, teeth snapping, and Felix barely scrambled away. One of its teeth caught onto his leg and a line of silver blood started to trickle down.

“Shit,” Felix muttered, scrambling to stand up. Hyunjin was by his side in an instant.

“Hey, I’m so sorry, are you hurt?” Hyunjin’s concerned eyes took in Felix’s face but the angel waved him away.

“Nothing that angelic self healing can’t fix.” Felix said, “You really shouldn’t be here.”

The monsters didn’t give them time to chat, for they all lunged at once and Hyunjin manifested his own an angel blade, slashing the closest monster across the eye. It let out a roar of pain as it’s brothers swooped in.

Oh, and the worst part about snallygasters? They also had wings.

Two of them took to the air, giving them the better vantage point as the two angels twirled and slashed at their opponents.

Meanwhile, Jisung had ran off to Minho the minute they’d arrived. He was right where Jisung had last seen him in his astral state, sitting on the table, but Minho had lost his black eyes, he was staring confusedly into the distance.

“Minho!” Jisung called as he barreled up to the boy. Minho turned his head in Jisung’s direction, eyes not quite recognizing, and Jisung’s heart sank.

“Min?” He called again, this time tentatively, he reached out a hand to touch the boy—but faltered. He wasn’t deserving of his touch. He was the reason Minho was here in the first place. But Minho wrapped his warm fingers around Jisung’s wrist, and Jisung stood frozen as Minho pulled his hand towards his face. The second his skin made contact with Minho’s cheek, it was like a dam had been broken. The two melted into each other’s touch.

“Oh god, Minho, I’m so, so sorry.” Jisung’s voice broke, moving closer to the boy, he needed to touch him, needed to know he was alive, that he was okay. He brushed his palm across his face, hoping to wipe off the dried blood that stuck there, wanting to erase any trace of the pain he had been through. Pain that was all _his_ fault.

“It wasn’t your fault.” Minho mumbled into Jisung’s hand, face pressed against his palm in comfort. Jisung wondered if he’d accidently spoken that out loud.

“But—it is. I’m your guardian, I should have been able to protect you.” Jisung was getting angrier by the second, but not at Minho, never at Minho, at himself.

“Ji, look at me.” Minho said, placing both hands on Jisung’s face to make the demon face him. He stared up at Minho’s face. Beautiful, even with the streaks of blood, a reminder of what had happened to him. It made Jisung want to cry all over again. “I knew you would come for me. I don’t blame you one bit. I’m just glad you’re here.” He buried his face into Jisung’s shoulder, hugging the demon in a death grip.

Across the ruins, Jeongin and Seungmin were dealing with their own problems. Jisung having disappeared the second they’d landed. Undoubtedly to where Minho was, but before Seungmin could make his leave to follow, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.

“Hey, Innie, I don’t want to worry you but—those tree skeleton creatures over there are getting closer.” He pointed towards the near distance and sure enough, Jeongin could make out the giant walking trees that were headed straight for them.

“Well you know how to fight trees,” Jeongin said, eyes already burning will Hellfire.

“Pollute the air until they can’t get enough nutrients?” Seungmin supplied helpfully.

“I was going to say you burn them, but I guess that works too?” Jeongin didn’t wait around for a reply, his form was already shifting. It seemed painful, if the small gasps and whimper the demon was letting out was any indication. Seungmin wondered if he was able to control it yet, or if it was all happening involuntarily.

The demon cat, AKA Jeongin, went bounding towards the skeleton trees, fire blazing off of him as he went. The trees went up in flames the second Jeongin got within a few feet of them, and a weird screaming noise went up into the air. “Maybe this is how trees sound when they’re dying.” Seungmin thought solemnly.

Though the problem with Jeongin going off to handle danger, was that it left Seungmin alone, which he was quickly beginning to realize when a hand shot out and all but dragged Seungmin into a back hug—but not a hug because whoever had hugged him had a knife pressed tightly into his neck, and a demon that looked a lot like evil Changbin was staring back at them worriedly.

“A human? You guys brought a _human_ to a fight?” That Changbin asked incredulously. Whoever was holding him laughed evilly, the knife starting to cut into his skin. Seungmin prayed that it wasn’t who he thought it was holding him, but the odds weren’t in his favor.

“Let him go, shapeshifter.” Demon Changbin said tiredly, and Seungmin realized the demon he was looking at must be the real Changbin. The demon’s skin was paper white, with red lines much like Chan’s lining his skin. He was quite the sight, if Seungmin did say so himself. And he was effectively distracted for a few seconds, before the knife cut in deeper.

A muffled whimper escaped his lips involuntarily. He could feel the warm trickle of blood as it slid down his neck.

“A human, really. And here I was thinking I had my work cut out for me.” Fake Changbin drawled. “I can exchange him for something, if you want.”

“I’m not making any deals with you.” Changbin growled out, “You either hand me the human, or die.”

Fake Changbin laughed, “Quite a harsh bargain you run, but I can do you one better. You do what I want, or he dies.”

“That leader angel of theirs thinks it’s got to be an angel or a demon that can become a Nephilim, but I know better.” The shapeshifter mused quietly, like he wasn’t concerned Seungmin was overhearing him. “You see, I found something out after hiding away in the human realm for so long. If you want a scapegoat, humans are your best bet.”

Seungmin’s eyes went wide, and the rest of the events happened in slow motion. Changbin started running towards him, but Seungmin somehow knew he wasn’t going to make it in time. The shapeshifter had lifted the knife away from his neck, but only to cut a swift line across it. He heard someone scream, but it couldn’t have been him, he couldn’t breathe. His knees hit the ground when the shapeshifter let him go. Something warm gurgled up his throat, but when he looked down, all he could see was red. His ears were ringing, and he couldn’t feel anything at all.

A face appeared in his fading vision, warm brown eyes that use to crinkle in happiness whenever he laughed, looked at Seungmin in utter devastation. Seungmin didn’t like it one bit, but what was he to do? The world was closing in on him, and he couldn’t make out a single word.

~

Changbin realized what was happening too late. Even with his super speed, he couldn’t get to the shapeshifter before he’d sliced the human’s throat. He hadn’t been expecting that, what did the shapeshifter have to gain from killing a human?

The boy went down hard, a startled expression on his face, blood gushing out of his mouth in waves. Changbin stood frozen, eyes wide as he took in the horrible sight before him. He wanted to throw up, wanted to rewind time, no one should have ever died in such a way.

What was worse was the absolute cry of agony that came next. Hyunjin barreling towards the boy, the monster he had been fighting slumped to the ground, dead. He angel reached the boy the same time a blazing cat jumped on the shapeshifter. He wasn’t sure what the bastard said, but whatever it was made the cat hesitate—though only for a second, before it effectively ripped the shapeshifters throat out. Changbin gaped at the scene.

Hyunjin’s sobs were ugly, heartbreaking, as he leaned over the boy in his lap.

“Seungmin, Minnie, _no, no. _You can’t die, I—I love you.”

Changbin was scared to move any closer. He didn’t know what do say, what to do. He stood frozen in his spot, only able to watch.

The blazing cat turned to sniff at the two on the ground. It’s ears twitched, before they pointed backwards. It didn’t take a minute for the flames on the cat to dissipate, lone sparks sank onto the ground, singing the grass that was there. In seconds, Jeongin was in the cat’s spot, or the cat was Jeongin.

Changbin hadn’t seen the demon in so long, but he’d never a reunion where Jeongin looked like this, like his whole world had been shattered. His face was blank as he kneeled by the two. Hyunjin’s sobs never ceasing.

“Minnie?” Jeongin’s voice came, wavering, unsure. “Hyunjin, why is he—why is there so much blood?” His voice broke at the end, and Changbin couldn’t take it anymore. Tears started streaming down his cheeks, and he turned away from the scene, only to run into a solid mass. A warm, familiar, glowing mass. He didn’t know what else to do, he clung onto Felix, and finally let his emotions take over. 

~

“Seungmin!” Minho’s voice came, he pushed his way towards the three on the ground. Only to be met with a terrible sight. Tears sprung to his eyes immediately, a sob threatening to rip out of his throat.

“Hyunjin, heal him, please!” Minho begged, falling to the ground to hold his best friend’s hand. It was limp in his grasp, cold.

“I’ve been trying,” Hyunjin gasped out between sobs. “But it’s—it’s too late.”

“No, it can’t be, after all this? All we’ve been through?” Minho shook his head, vision blurred by his tears. All he could see was the red blood of his friend. “There’s got to be away to save him!” He wouldn’t let his best friend die, he _couldn’t_. Seungmin was always there for him, Seungmin was his longest friend, his closest friend, he loved him like a brother. He couldn’t _lose him_—

“There is a way.” A new voice said, but it was Jisung who replied. A demon blade already in hand.

“Don’t you dare come any closer!” Jisung threatened. And it was then Minho realized it was Jaehyun who had spoken, but why was Jisung so angry? And why did Hyunjin shrivel in on himself?

“Chan, what did you do with him?” Jisung yelled at the angel, angry tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

“Chan is fine, but right now you have bigger matters at hand.” Jaehyun said, looking pointedly at Seungmin. “There is a way to save him, but I need you to trust me.”

“How could we,” Hyunjin said, voice barely above a whisper.

“What was that?”

“How could we trust _you_, when _you’re_ the reason Seungmin is _dead_?!” Hyunjin lashed out, standing to whirl on the angel. The blade in his hand was growing longer, and longer, forming into a gleaming sword.

Jaehyun’s eyes grew wide for a second, before he put both hands up in front of him. “Hyunjin, please, I know you hate me right now, but I can save him.” Minho wanted to believe the angel, he wasn’t sure why everyone else was acting so hostile towards the leader of angels, but he was their only shot.

“Do it.” Minho said, squeezing Seungmin’s limp hand in his own. “Save him, _please_.”

“Minho, you don’t understand,” Jisung started, eyes wild as they turned towards Minho, “Jaehyun has been working with the shapeshifter all along! He knew Changbin was being held captive, he was the one who killed those angels!”

Minho blinked, trying to process the fact that Jaehyun, someone who he’d once thought was the most righteous out of all of them, had turned out to be a traitor.

“I—can’t think about that right now, but if he can save Seungmin, then we have to _try_.” Minho looked at Jisung, teary eyed and helpless, and the demon slumped in defeat.

Minho turned to Hyunjin, “Hyunjin—please, we owe it to Seungmin to try and save him, don’t we?”

“Do it.” Jeongin spoke up. The demon hadn’t cried, but his silence spoke volumes, the way his hands fisted in his pants, skin turned the darkest blue it was almost black. “Save Seungmin, or you’ll be the next to die.” Jeongin looked up then, and his look scared Minho. His eyes were aflame, literally, but it was more than the flames, there was a dark intensity to him that had Minho itching to scooch away.

Hyunjin looked helplessly between the two, before finally relenting and letting Jaehyun take Seungmin into his arms. It seemed he was about to teleport away when Hyunjin gripped onto the angel’s arm.

“If you’re taking him somewhere, I am going with you.” Hyunjin spoke, voice made of steel.

Jaehyun shook his head, “You can’t Jin, this is something we have to do ourselves.” The leader said. “Please, you have my word, I won’t let him die, I promise.”

Hyunjin’s face twisted, in anger, or grief, Minho wasn’t sure.

“Who’s we?” Jisung asked, not trusting in the slightest.

“Chan and me, we can heal him.” Jaehyun said, “Seungmin’s chances of surviving are dwindling the longer we’re standing around talking about it, you have to let me go, _now_.”

“Funny, we felt the same way not too long ago.” Jisung muttered, glancing at Minho, who caught his eye and somehow felt a little bit better.

“You better keep your word angel, or I will find you, you can count on that.” Jeongin said, eyes unwavering as he stared down the angel to the last second, until Jaehyun disappeared, a few white feathers falling in his wake.

Hyunjin bent down to pick one up. “We should track him, we can use this.”

“Seungmin—he’ll be okay, right?” Minho asked to no one in particular. Hoping, yet dreading someone to answer.

“He has to be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DON'T WORRY DON'T WORRY DON'T WORRY DON'T WORRY  
I PROMISE IT'LL ALL BE OKAY 
> 
> mostly


	9. I'll get better, I promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovelies! I was going to make these next few chapters all one chapter--but then I realize there was an imbalanced amount of Changlix there so, I decided to give Changlix their own chapter. WELL DESERVED MIGHT I ADD. 
> 
> CHAPTER WARNINGS:  
\- mentions of sexual assault (it's alluded to but there is ONE line, so just a warning)

ONE MONTH LATER:

Changbin sat on the couch, staring into the hellfire. It had been weird at first, coming back home after so long. He was starting to get used to it again, the heat of Hell was comforting in comparison to the cold, darkness of the cell he’d been kept in. He never wanted to feel that cold, that helplessness, ever again. He shivered despite the heat of the flames just thinking about it.

Chan and Jaehyun were, gone. They had tried to track Jaehyun down with the feather Hyunjin had picked up, but to no use. Tracking the King of Hell came up with similar results of nothing. Where they wanted to panic, they knew they had to stay strong, or Heaven and Hell would fall apart with both their leaders missing. In Jaehyun's absence, Felix took his place. Not permanently—they all hoped—but at least as long as it took until Jaehyun would come back. Some of them wondered if it was even wise to let Jaehyun come back, but they didn’t want to dwell on that fact too long.

In Chan’s absence, Jisung had stepped in. Changbin offered to help him, but Jisung insisted that the demon rest. “_You’ve been through so much Binnie, why don’t you just take a load off? Hang out with your boyfriend. I promise I’ll ask you if I need help_.” Jisung had told him. Changbin wanted to protest, but Felix had given him a stern look, apparently agreeing with the other demon, and Changbin didn’t have the heart to go against Felix. He never had, and probably never would.

If Jisung was stressed, he did a good job of hiding it, though perhaps Minho was doing God’s work out there in keeping Jisung sane. The demon had to have the cambion in his sights at all times, though neither of them were really complaining. Minho looked like he was starting to get more used to being half demon, he’d ran up to Changbin excitedly the other day laughing in delight as he showed Changbin little dust tornadoes he’d been able to make. Changbin had smiled at the boy, “Keep that up and you might be able to recreate the tornado that sweeps Dorothy off to Oz.” Changbin joked. Minho had only blinked at the demon.

“Your references will never cease to amaze me.” The boy had said.

As it was, Minho and Changbin had grown a lot closer over the past month, both of them keeping Jisung company. Well, when they weren’t off with their respective boyfriends of course.

Minho currently had his head in Changbin’s lap, both of them staring off into nothing.

“Do you think Chan will ever come back?” Minho’s small voice asked, like he was afraid of anyone else over hearing. Changbin looked over to Chan’s desk where Jisung was now sitting, staring intently at something Changbin couldn’t make out.

“I sure hope so. We never got the chance to meet again, after everything.” Changbin sighed, he missed Chan, without him here—Changbin felt like a part of him was still missing.

“I wish Innie would come back and visit more.” Minho muttered as he gazed into the Hellfire. “I hope they’re doing alright.”

Changbin’s heart clenched thinking about what had happened a month ago. Almost every night he’d have a nightmare about the whole ordeal. Him locked up, the boy dying, right before his eyes, the screams and sobs of his friends—Changbin squeezed his eyes shut, willing the thoughts to leave his mind. He might be a bit messed up for a while, but he was determined to change that. If only his subconscious would get with the program.

“Do you think—they’ll be able to save Seungmin?” Minho asked again, voice barely above a whisper. Changbin tensed, knew how hard it had been on Minho, losing his best friend. He ran a hand through Minho’s hair in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

“If anyone can do it, they can.” Changbin said. The two fell back into contemplative silence.

A fluffy white feather landed on Changbin’s nose, nearly scaring the demon half to death. He gave a very “manly” yelp and all but shoved Minho off of his lap, the boy dropping to the floor like a sack of potatoes with a disgruntled, “Hey!”

Changbin breathed in, breathed out, and lifted the feather up from where it had fallen into his lap. It was a fluffy, white, angel feather, _Felix_. His boyfriend was calling for him.

“What the _Hell_, man?” Minho pouted, rubbing his bruised ass as he stared at Changbin accusingly.

“Sorry it just—scared me.” Changbin muttered, wiping sweaty palms on his pants before standing up. Minho’s face turned solemn, understanding, and Changbin wished he didn’t elicit other’s to feel pity for him. He was fine—mostly. Though were any of them? He’d be a lot better once he’d seen his boyfriend.

“Felix is calling me, so—I’m gonna go. You think you can keep Jisungie company for a while?” Changbin said with a small smirk.

Minho blushed, looking over at his guardian demon, “I’m sure I can find some way to keep him company.”

Changbin rolled his eyes, knowing quite well what the youngest had in mind. Lucifer knows he’d walked in on them making out more times than he could shake a stick at.

He teleported out of there not a second later, already knowing where the angel would be.

Back in the human realm, Changbin rounded the corner after turning back into his human form. He walked towards the dog café Felix was in love with, smiling softly as he walked up the steps.

His eyes landed on Felix almost immediately, the angel was surrounded by a halo of dogs. Dogs of all sizes, colors, and fluff wagged their tails as Felix cooed at them, petting them each expertly. Changbin cooed himself, but not at the dogs.

Felix looked up and met his eyes, which instantly crinkled up into crescents. His smile was actually breathtaking, and Changbin stumbled a little under its’ full wattage.

“Lixie, don’t do that. You know my heart is still weak.” Changbin fake pouted, dropping down next to his boyfriend. The dogs instantly zoomed away from the demon, all flanking Felix’s opposite side. Changbin pouted for real this time, animals always instantly hated demons. That is—until a fluffy little tan dog pranced up to him, sniffing his pant leg before sneezing. Changbin laughed at the dog, he probably smelled of Hellfire, but to his surprise, the dog didn’t run away. Instead, it pawed Changbin’s leg, asking for attention.

“Look, Binnie! She likes you!” Felix exclaimed, urging the demon to pet her. Changbin reached out tentatively, patting the dog’s fluffy head. When the dog did nothing but seem to want more, Changbin gave in, rubbing behind its’ ears as the dog vibrated happily.

“Lix, we should keep her.” Changbin said, completely serious. “Do you think the humans would notice if she went—missing?”

Felix gave a sharp laugh, “Uh—no, Binnie, we are _not_ stealing a dog from a dog café.” Felix chastised, but a smile was still on his face. Changbin pouted, but let it go. He didn’t want anyone else hogging Felix’s attention anyways.

“So how are things up—there?” Changbin started off. It was only a little weird between the two. They hadn’t seen each other in a year, and having disappeared on sour terms wasn’t a bonus. Plus Felix still blamed himself for Changbin being held captive, which was not at all the angel’s fault, so Changbin kept trying to tell him. But there was a little part in the demon himself that agreed, _perhaps if you’d kept looking for me, you’d have found me. _

“Binnie—Bin! Did you hear what I said?” Felix asked, poking Changbin in his ribs. Changbin jerked away before he could process what was going on. He was breathing hard, and the little tan dog and scurried away in the jostle.

Felix’s smile immediately dropped, “Oh Binnie, I’m sorry I didn’t realize—”

_There it is again, that same pitying look. _Changbin straightened himself up, angry at himself for overreacting, yet again.

“It’s fine Lix, I’m sorry you just—caught me off guard.” Changbin gave a little laugh, trying to dispel the tension, but Felix was still frowning at him. Changbin shuffled under his gaze.

“I’m just still a little jumpy. You know, after everything.”

Felix gave him the same look that Minho had earlier, and Changbin tried not to be angry at himself. Felix reached out to squeeze Changbin’s hand in his.

“I get it, hyung, don’t get angry at yourself for that. It will get better, I promise you. And I’ll be here for you, always.”

Changbin felt his heart swell with love in his chest. There was no one like Felix, and he’d be damned if he ever let Felix go a second time. Changbin acted before he really thought, closing the distance between the two to kiss Felix on his lips. They hadn’t kissed in a year, but somehow—it was like their kiss outstood the width of time, unspoken words that conveyed Changbin’s feeling better than he ever could verbally.

Felix froze for only a second before melting into the kiss, perhaps getting a little too passionate for the family friendly dog café.

“Maybe—maybe we should go some place a little more private?” Felix suggested, giggling as one of the dogs whined at them from the side.

Changbin broke away reluctantly. He nodded at Felix, though something in his heart gave a worrying jerk at the suggestion.

Felix took Changbin’s hand reassuringly, and the two ambled out of the café, quickly turning the corner into the back alley so Felix could teleport the two back to his place. Apparently, becoming temporary leader of angels had its perks—including smuggling a Class A demon into Heaven.

“Don’t you think someone’s going to sense me here?” Changbin said between kisses as Felix guided them towards the couch.

Felix shook his head, “Jeongin was able to sneak in here for a while before anyone noticed, and besides, no one would dare disturb me.” There was a mischievous glint in Felix’s eyes that made Changbin gulp. He may be the demon here, but Felix was 10 times scarier that he’d ever be.

Felix pulled Changbin down to sit on his lap, the demon kissing Felix to distract from the angel’s hands that started sliding down his torso.

_It’s just Felix, It’s Felix, you love Felix. _Changbin repeated in his head like a mantra, he hated how much he wanted to jerk away. He hated how his body wouldn’t process the fact that it was Felix who was touching him, _Felix!_

He kissed Felix harder, almost bruisingly to distract himself from as Felix slipped his hands under Changbin’s shirt. The demon tensed, eyes shut tight as he felt Felix’s fingers trailed over his skin.

_What is wrong with you? It’s Felix, you’ve done this countless times before! _Changbin’s mind screamed at his body, but it didn’t matter. Changbin shivered, brain becoming hazy, but he was still doing okay—until Felix reached to pull his pants down and Changbin’s brain short-circuited. His body reacted first, jerking away from Felix causing the demon to fall, curling in on himself despite his best efforts.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Changbin kept repeating as he rolled himself into a ball on the floor. Felix stared at him, eyes wide, his heart breaking as he realized what was going on.

“Binnie, _Binnie_, hey,” Felix crouched next to the hysteric demon, Changbin was back in his demon form, no doubt subconsciously turning in his distress.

“Binnie, did they—did they _do_ things to you? Did they—_touch _you?” Felix asked, voice hard, scared, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer, though he feared he already knew. He wanted so badly to reach out to comfort his boyfriend, but he was afraid touching him now would make things worse.

Changbin peeked up at Felix, breathing unsteady, eyes watery as he stared at the angel. He nodded, just the slightest of nods, but Felix caught it. The angel was filled with a sense of dread and anger so deep he wasn’t sure what to do with it. He wanted to pull Changbin into his arms and protect him from any harm that would ever come his way ever again, but he also wanted to go hunt down and kill each and every demon that hurt him, that dared to touch Changbin and _hurt_ him in that way.

Changbin brought himself up to sitting position, sensing the rage emanating from his angel boyfriend.

“Lixie, it’s okay—”

“No, it’s not okay! I can’t believe they—they raped you, Changbin. And I let it happen!”

“You didn’t though,” Changbin said, his need to comfort Felix greater than his own. “You weren’t there, this was no way your fault—”

“Exactly, I wasn’t there.” Felix’s jaw tensed, “This is in every way my fault.”

Changbin twiddled with his hands in his lap, “I—I’m not gonna lie, there were times when my faith in you would waver, back when I was in that cell, I thought—maybe you had finally given up looking for me, maybe I wasn’t worth it.” Changbin’s voice grew smaller as he went on, the heavy emotions behind his words finally catching up to him as his eyes began to water.

“Changbin—”

“Wait, let me finish.” Changbin said, finally looking up to meet Felix’s eyes, the angel looked like he was about to cry. Changbin looked away, he couldn’t stand seeing Felix cry. “But then I remembered Lixie, my Lixie, brave, strong, determined, really clingy but I’d never complain.” The two gave watery laughs at his words. “I don’t blamed you for any of it, Lix. It was never your fault, it’s not anyone’s fault but that damned shapeshifter. If anything, it’s also my fault for not being able to protect myself better,”

Felix threw his arms around Changbin then, the angel’s body shaking with sobs. Changbin held on tight. “But I knew in the end you’d come for me. My angel would save me, and Lixie—you did.” He was crying now too, the release of emotion almost freeing.

Felix pulled himself away so he was looking into Changbin’s eyes, “I swear, I’ll kill each any every demon who hurt you.” Felix said, wiping the tears off his face.

Changbin laughed, “That’s my angelic boyfriend.” He teased. Felix smiled at him, but his smiled wavered as new tears sprung to his eyes.

“I’m so sorry Binnie,” He said for the umpteenth time. Burying his face in his hands. Changbin pulled Felix closer, taking the angel’s hands in his own.

“Hey, maybe I’m not—completely fine. But I’m trying to be. Please just, give me some time. I promise I’ll get over it. I _know I can_.”

“Binnie, you don’t have to promise me anything, and you don’t have to try so hard. I’m here for you, no matter how long you need.” Felix’s voice was reassuring, and Changbin instantly relaxed at his words.

“Maybe we can just, take things slow?” Changbin said, cheeks reddening a little. He was still slightly shaking, but with Felix there, he knew he was safe, _loved. _

Felix smiled at his boyfriend. “Of course!” He hesitated, “Does cuddling count as taking it slow?”

Changbin laughed at his uncertainty, “Of course, I could never say no to cuddling you.” And it was cheesy, it was _so cheesy_. But screw it if you’re in love, nothing ever feels quite so cheesy. So the two spent the rest of the day like that, wrapped up in each others arms, forgetting about the real world, at least for a little while. And for once in such a long time, Changbin actually felt safe, like everything was going to be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My poor Changbinnie, but he's got Lixie now, so he'll be okay. 
> 
> Guys... I'm curious, which subplot is your favorite in this story? Changlix, Minsung, Hyunseungin, etc?  
Woochan kinda got screwed so far ahaa I'm sorry. Maybe I'll try to add more of them in later--if the story allows. 
> 
> Thank you all for being patient with my updates and I love you all for sticking with me! :')
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself)


	10. Don't Let Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Times about to get sexy~ but not too sexy, I don't write smut folks sorry 
> 
> Also, Levanter English Version is a BOP

“You know, when you said I should take a break, this wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind.” Jisung breathed out between pecks.

Jisung and Minho were kissing, the dim light of their room casting their shadows to dance on the walls, not that either of them were particularly paying attention. Kissing was a common activity now, since both of them were sad most of the time, kissing helped alleviate the pain. Not to mention the fact that they were perhaps a tiniest bit on love with each other and once they’d shared their first kiss they couldn’t quite—stop.

Minho’s neck was straining as he leaned up to kiss harder into Jisung’s lips, the demon’s hands threading through his hair making Minho moan out at his touch. Jisung pulled away suddenly, Minho whining at the loss, eyes opening to see a plump-lipped Jisung staring back at him, eyes blown, brown hair in disarray. Minho smiled, reaching up to fix it a little.

“Sung, how come I’ve never seen you in full demon form before?” Minho asked, the thought only just hitting him. By now he’d seen both Chan and Changbin in their demon forms, along with multiple other demon’s he’d come across in Hell, but somehow, he’d never seen Jisung’s.

Jisung shifted on his lap, not meeting Minho’s eyes. “I err—I don’t know.”

Minho gave a huff of amusement, was Jisung being _shy_? 

“Sungie,” Minho started, placing both hands on his cheeks to make Jisung look at him, “I wanna see the real you, all of you.”

Jisung blushed, eyes darting to look away when he couldn’t turn his face, “No you don’t.” He mumbled.

Minho gave a mock-offended gasp, “What do you mean? Of course I do! Don’t get me wrong, you look adorable and somehow equally as hot as a human,” Minho smiled when that elicited a small snort from the other, “But I want to _know_ you Jisung, and I feel like I should get to see you in all your—demonic glory.”

Jisung stuck his tonged out at the boy, causing Minho to laugh.

“And I want to know you too, Min. It’s not that I don’t want to show who I really am to you, but it’s just—” Jisung trailed off, playing with the hem of Minho’s shirt absentmindedly. Minho cooed at his boyfriends actions.

“You’re beautiful, Jisung. Demon form or not, I still love you the same.” Minho smiled lovingly at Jisung, and the boy seemed to melt under his gaze.

He covered his face with his hands. “You’re gonna laugh.” Jisung’s muffled voice came from behind his hands. Now Minho was confused.

“What?”

“Promise me you won’t laugh.” Jisung pouted, taking his hands away so Minho could see the serious look on his face.

Minho held up both his arms, still confused, “I promise, baby.”

Jisung blushed again at the name. “Ok, close your eyes.” He told Minho, who only continued to stare up at him. “Min! I mean it!”

“Okay! Okay.” Minho said, closing his eyes obediently.

It was silent for a while, Minho had to fight the urge to sneak a peak. Eventually, his curiosity won over. “Can I open my eyes now?” He asked impatiently.

“Yes.” Came Jisung’s tiny voice. Minho blinked, and a gasp escaped his lips when he caught sight of the demon sitting atop him.

Jisung’s skin was pink, a pretty pale pink that Minho would have been caught dead in, but unsurprisingly, the color looked beautiful on Jisung. Electric, sky blue markings trailed his skin in similar fashion as Chan and Changbin’s. Minho couldn’t help himself, he reached out to trace the lines along his arm, Jisung shivered under his touch. The demon was looking at Minho intently, eyebrows scrunched like he was scared of what Minho would say, how he would react.

Something waving caught Minho’s attention, and he let out a little “oh!” of surprise when he realized Jisung had a tail, complete with the tapered triangular edge that seemed so stereotypical of a devil. Minho almost laughed, but he stopped himself midway, remembering he’d told Jisung he wouldn’t.

“I saw that.” Jisung said, looking at Minho accusingly. Minho finally took in the demon’s face, and ginned wider when he saw little horns protruding atop Jisung’s head.

“You’re so _cute_ Sungie.” Minho said, reaching out tentatively to feel one of his horns. Jisung’s breath caught at the act, and Minho raised an eyebrow at him curiously.

“No ones—no ones ever touched me there before.” Jisung mumbled softly, his pink cheeks turning a shade darker, and Minho internally squealed at his pastel pink, demon boyfriend.

“I think I recall a time you said stereotypical demon costumes with devil tails and horns were offensive to your kind? That no demon even looked like that?” Minho teased, thinking back to a Halloween where he’d argued with Jisung about dressing up.

“Shut up, I _was_ offended. Still am.” Jisung pouted some more, but Minho wasn’t having it. He easily flipped them over so Jisung was beneath him and went straight back to kissing the boy. Jisung gave a muffled yelp, but soon melted into the kiss, lips moving languidly with Minho’s. He never thought kissing someone would be that pleasant. So pleasant that he never wanted to stop.

“You wanted to see all of me,” Jisung stuttered out between kisses, Minho breathed heavily as he leaned his forehead to Jisung’s, “Then go ahead, see me.” Jisung breathed and Minho’s heart clenched, beating like crazy. It didn’t take him long to discard all of Jisung’s clothing, and Jisung, his. The demon looked even prettier without them on, Minho lit up when he found out that the blue markings really did continue all over Jisung’s body, and he immediately got to work, tracing ever line like he was drawing, and he might as well have been, Jisung truly was a work of art. 

Jisung squirmed under Minho’s touch, breath quickening the longer they went on, until Minho couldn’t hear anything but Jisung’s soft pants and moans, and the beating of both their hearts. Couldn’t feel anything but the demon’s hot skin against his, the softness of the pull between both their bodies.

For the first time in a long time, Minho felt content, at peace, at home.

~

Hyunjin woke up the to the light shining in through the blinds. The first thing he felt was warmth, and something tickling under his chin. The angel blinked awake blearily, eyes catching a flash of black that he soon connected to being Jeongin’s bat wings, twitching softly, brushing against his neck. Hyunjin’s heart swelled and dropped almost simultaneously, as it did most mornings, realizing Jeongin was with him, and immediately remembering that Seungmin was not.

He wrapped his arms tightly around Jeongin’s body, his solid warmth becoming warmer, and warmer, until Hyunjin had to pull away lest he suffer burns. Little bits of flames and started licking across Jeongin’s skin. Before the angel could do anything, Jeongin shot awake with a gasp. His forehead was shiny with sweat, and a few stray tears streamed down his face.

“Oh, Innie.” Hyunjin called, pulling the demon into his embrace at Jeongin’s sad, lost look. It wasn’t every morning that Jeongin woke up with nightmares, but it was most, and Hyunjin knew what the demon was going through. They would suffer for the consequences of their actions, each of them blaming themselves for Seungmin’s death. And they couldn’t quite pick up the pieces of themselves left behind, even with each other there.

They’d escaped to the human realm not too long after searching for Jaehyun and Chan had came up with nothing. It was too painful for either of them staying in Heaven or Hell. At least in the human realm they could be alone, without their friends worrying about them, the sad looks in their eyes whenever they saw the two. At least in the human realm they could be together, a demon and an angel together, without the hassle of having to put up with the societal structures of Heaven and Hell. At least in the human realm, they were reminded of Seungmin, everything that made him _him_, and they thought it was a fitting punishment for what they had let happen.

“I’m fine now, I’m okay.” Jeongin said, pushing gently out of Hyunjin’s embrace to wipe at his eyes. Jeongin had grown up so much over the short span of the month, though not in any way Hyunjin deemed good. He was more mature now, sure, but it was only because of the heartbreak and responsibility that bore down on him like the weight of the world.

Hyunjin felt like the younger had been keeping something from him, but he didn’t want to pry. They’d gone through enough as it was, and Hyunjin didn’t want to lose Jeongin too with him pushing, he _couldn’t_.

The two went about their day, though it didn’t exactly consist of much. They’d managed to buy an apartment with fake money and a bit of compulsion talent. Most of the time they walked around the human realm, looking for any humans that needed help, any humans they could _save_, where they’d failed to save one _specific_ human before.

So far they’d only stopped a few muggings, and an almost car accident, but wandering the streets of Seoul more often than not didn’t amount in much humans that needed saving. Jeongin had suggested relocating to a place where they could help out more, but Hyunjin had insisted on staying there. Seoul was where he and Seungmin had lived for so long, and he wasn’t ready to give up that part of him, not yet.

It was nearing nighttime again, as it did every day. The two going through the motions, forcing themselves to get up, to go out because they felt like they had an obligation, to Seungmin, to do better in his name.

They were sitting on the edge of a rooftop, legs dangling over the edge, watching as the lights of the city started to blink on one by one, lights that burned brighter in the dimming sky.

Hyunjin had a hand clasp in Jeongin’s, the demon really looked like just a boy without his horns and wings, he looked so young, like someone who shouldn’t have had to go through what he had. Jeongin looked like a child, but Hyunjin knew it was far from the truth, his eyes shone of a wisdom that no mere 19 year old would have.

“Jin hyung, I have to tell you something.” Jeongin finally said, breaking the silence between them. Hyunjin watched, patiently waiting as the demon finally turned to look at him, the wind blew his hair across his face. His eyebrows were furrowed, expression serious, and Hyunjin wished he could have stayed how he was before, puppy-like and innocent. Free of the burdens that he now carried.

Hyunjin squeezed his hand in support, and he could see Jeongin relax the slightest bit. He met Hyunjin’s eyes, and the angel’s heart skipped a beat, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever get use to the younger’s intense stare.

“That shapeshifter, he said something to me before I—_killed_ him.” Jeongin started, hand clenching involuntarily in Hyunjin’s grasp. “He looked at me, scared at first—but then it was like he _knew_ who I was, I can’t explain it.” Jeongin paused, Hyunjin trying to makes sense of the younger’s words.

“I was so angry at him, even if I didn’t fully realize—I was ready to kill him, about to, until he said, “_So it is true, Lucifer has a son.”_”

Hyunjin’s head shot up to look at Jeongin, this was complete news to him.

“And I hesitated—just for a second, I wanted to know what he meant, but I also saw what he did to Minnie and I—” Jeongin stopped talking then, but Hyunjin didn’t need to hear anymore. He understood his feelings completely, would have done the same to the bastard if Jeongin hadn’t beat him too it.

“But In, you don’t think that—” Hyunjin trailed off, scared to finish the sentence.

“That I’m Lucifer’s son?” Jeongin said out loud, there was a pause before he gave a curt laugh. “Call me crazy Jinnie, but—somehow it makes sense. Why I can suddenly turn into a fire breathing cat, why the shadows in District 9 were calling me the “Prince of Hellfire.” Whether I want to believe it or not—I think there might be something there.”

Hyunjin was silent for a while, taking it all in, his mind working double time. He’d almost forgotten about their time in District 9, what with all the other things that went on immediately after, but now that Jeongin mentioned it, he had been questioning why the shadows were calling him that. If there was one thing he’d learned about the shadow creatures—they were rarely ever wrong. Hyunjin gasped, his grip in Jeongin’s hand tightening.

“Jeongin, do you remember what the shadow creatures were saying to Seungmin before we barged in? They were saying his days were numbered, they wanted to kill him back then. That misery would only grow the longer he prolonged his fate.”

“They knew,” Jeongin stated flatly, suddenly standing up on the ledge. Hyunjin would have been worried he would fall, if he didn’t know Jeongin was extremely capable of saving himself. He was worried about the younger’s anger however, as small licks of flame started to dance along his skin. The wind, not quite strong enough to put his fire out.

“Innie, if it really was Seungmin’s fate, then maybe there was nothing we could do.” Hyunjin said, voice small. He was looking down at his hands now, seeing nothing.

Jeongin shook his head, “I don’t believe that. Who’s in charge of fate? Who is to say when someone dies and when they don’t?” Jeongin yelled out, the fire was burning brighter across his skin, but before either of them could say anything, a giant winged creature swooped out of nowhere tackling Jeongin in its’ hold and flying off with him.

“Jeongin!” Hyunjin yelled completely startled, but he didn’t think twice. He jumped off the building after the two, white wings unfurling behind him, catching the wind to send Hyunjin soaring above the buildings after the two.

Hyunjin hadn’t flown in so long, but it came back to him like second nature. If he wasn’t panicking, he might have enjoyed the feeling of flying again. Perhaps the first time he’d felt so light after everything that had happened.

The winged creature stopped on another rooftop, Hyunjin wary as to why it had stopped so suddenly, but he wouldn’t let Jeongin out of his sight. He couldn’t lose Jeongin too, he _couldn’t_. 

Hyunjin landed rather harshly on the roof, ready to fight but the look on Jeongin’s face made him stop. The winged _person_, Hyunjin now realized, had his back to him, but Jeongin could see his face, and the younger’s eyes were wide in shock, the fire on his skin had died, though he had turned back into his demon form. His hands shook as they covered his mouth in shock. Hyunjin’s heart stopped, it wasn’t—could it be?

Hyunjin walked slowly, so slowly he wasn’t sure how long it took him to finally reach Jeongin’s side, but when he finally dared to meet the winged person’s face, tears immediately sprung to his eyes, heart beating triple time.

It was Seungmin, or some_thing_ that looked a lot like him. Though this Seungmin had black wings, tinged with gold, and his eyes were shining a bright molten gold. He quirked his head as the started at the two staring back at him.

“S—Seungmin?” Hyunjin called disbelieving. He wasn’t sure if he should be elated, or scared, seeing as this Seungmin wasn’t quite _his_ Seungmin, the same Seungmin he was months ago.

Seungmin blinked, and every time they opened the two were met with the same startling gold. It was unsettling upon Seungmin’s face, otherworldly. And then the gold started leaking, dripping down his cheeks like tears, leaving behind shining gold trails.

Neither of the two moved, too scared of what would happen if they did. Scared that this may all be an illusion—or that it all might be real.

Seungmin suddenly dropped to his knees then, his form started to flicker, one second it was him with black wings and gold, and another it was him as a human, the same Seungmin they’d known, the same Seungmin they’d loved.

Seungmin looked up at them, eyes pleading, switching between his gold and brown.

“Help,” His weak voice said, a voice that was unmistakably Seungmin’s, and Hyunjin and Jeongin jumped into action, not able to deny it anymore. This was their Seungmin, no matter what he looked like, and he needed them.

“Ohmygod, Seungie, what happened? How are you—?” Hyunjin didn’t finish his sentence, the minute he wrapped an arm around the boy, he stopped flickering, staying in human form. Seungmin drooped into his arms, Jeongin hovering nearby worriedly, checking his pulse, feeling his skin.

“He’s breathing.” Jeongin said, almost in awe. Hyunjin shook his head to clear it, questions would have to be saved for later, for now. He had his Seungie in his arms, and he wasn’t about to let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WANNA BE MYSELF  
YEAH I GOTTA BE MYSELF


	11. Deleted Scenes (literally)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a compilation of scenes that I had written and changed, or written and cut out! I thought maybe you guys would be interesting in reading them, or if not, that's okay too ehee
> 
> *DISCLAIMER*  
These scenes are NO LONGER CANON! They are all deleted, or changed :)  
Also, gets a lil sexy towards the end oops (deleted smut scene?? Or the beginnings of one...)

Cut parts:

An unwelcomed urge to hold his hand came over Minho. He blushed furiously, quickly pushing the thought away. _Holding hands with Jisung? Over my dead body._

~

“Do you—” Minho began, and then bit his lip, _Will he hate me if I bring this up?_

“Do I what?” Jisung asked, voice calm. Ever since Changbin rudely popped up into their lives, Jisung hadn’t been his usual hyperactive self. More serious, calculating. Minho wasn’t sure if it was a good thing, or a bad thing.

“I just—don’t really understand what happened with Changbin.” Minho ended up whispering the demon’s name, like if he said it too loud the devil himself would pop up like unwanted acne and destroy them both.

Jisung tensed at the name, but sighed, “I guess you should know. There’s no point keeping it from you.” Minho waited patiently for the demon to continue.

“It was a few years ago, everything was fine. Chan, Changbin, and I were our usual trio, Chan told us what to do, you know, him being King and all, and Changbin and I annoyed the Hell out of him, thought we’d always end up doing it anyways.” Jisung paused, leaning back, “It was nice, to have two people I could entirely trust. Demon’s don’t exactly have families, there’s not a strong sense of parental instinct, or whatever you humans say.

I knew Changbin was dating Felix at the time, really, he wouldn’t shut up about it, ‘Oh, Felix this, Felix that, he’s so angelic I feel like my heart melts just by looking at him, he’s so cute, his voice is so deep,’ blah blah blah.”

Minho giggled at the obnoxious voice Jisung used to mimic Changbin. Jisung chuckled back.

“But, like any relationship’s, they had their low points.” Jisung’s face turned solemn. “It was during a fight they were having that Changbin disappeared. I don’t even know what the fight was about. He barged into the throne room, practically steaming in anger. No really, I think I could actually see the smoke coming off of him. But, it wasn’t unlike Changbin. His anger is by no means as bad as Chan’s can get, but sometimes when Felix and him were fighting, he’d get the angriest. Probably because he loved him the most.” Jisung’s voice went quiet at the end, Minho’s heart froze. Something about those words hit closer to home than he’d like them to.

Jisung shook his head, “Anyways, I tried to talk to him, ask him what was wrong, but he wouldn’t talk. He disappeared not too long after that. Again, not unlike him. Sometimes he just had to blow off steam, in this case, quite literally. He’d go to the human realm to get away, but he’d always come back.” Jisung’s hands clenched hard at the railing.

“This time though, he was gone for a long time. Longer than he’d ever disappeared before. It got so bad, Felix actually came down to Hell to search for him. The angel had never done that before, no angels went to Hell, and honestly, who could blame them?

Felix came down all panicky, saying he’d tried calling for Changbin multiple times, but the demon wouldn’t come. He even went to the human realm to look for him, but he wasn’t in his usual favorite places. I was already worrying at that point, how could I not? He was my best friend.” Jisung’s voice cracked at the end, Minho wanted to comfort the demon, but thought better of his action, and refrained himself from doing so.

“We tried everything, but none of us could find him. It was like he’d disappeared off the face of the earth, or worse _died._

We all assumed the worst, Felix was distraught, but I’m not sure what happened to him after. He went back to Heaven and—we never really saw each other again. But then—Changbin did come back.” Jisung stopped, eyes hard, seemingly staring into the distance at nothing in particular.

“He came back, but I wish he hadn’t.” Jisung’s voice was small, so small Minho felt the urge to protect his guardian.

“What happened?” Minho asked instead, too curious. Jisung turned to him, forlorn eyes trained to his.

“He came back, only to slaughter a bunch of new demon recruits, along with any other demon that got in the way of his rampage through Hell. At the time, Chan and I were returning from a mission in the human realm, but by the time we got back, it was too _late_. Bodies were everywhere, black blood smeared across the floor, the _smell—”_ Jisung stopped again, eyes closing tight. “It was horrible.”

Minho did put a hand on his arm then, not being able to stop himself anymore. Jisung placed his own hand on top, squeezing Minho’s fingers.

“Chan and I were shocked, we both just—_froze _at the sight. And then I saw him, Changbin, but he looked nothing like the Changbin I had known. His smile was downright sadistic, evil, it’s the only way I can describe it. I called his name, not believing what I was seeing. Changbin would have never done such a thing, and he’d been missing for so long—I honestly wondered if I was looking at a ghost. But it was him alright. I wish it wasn’t.”

“What happened after that?” Minho asked softly, it seemed like the story was almost at its’ end.

Jisung sighed, “Nothing really. Chan and I were too stunned to do anything in that moment, and after seeing his face—he just disappeared, again. Vanishing into thin air. We tried to look for him again, but it was just like before, it’s like he didn’t exist. It was so _weird._ That’s not the right word, but I can’t think of another way to describe it.

Nothing happened after that, a hundred demons dead and it seemed like the end. We debated forever if we should tell Felix or not, but we never did. Figured it was best if he didn’t know, since we couldn’t find him anyways.

Before he showed up at the dorms, I thought maybe we’d just imagined it. I _hoped_ we’d just imagined it. That it was anything else _but_ Changbin. But I guess there’s no denying that now, is there.” Jisung let out an unamused laugh. 

Silence fell over them again, Minho didn’t know what to possibly say after a story like that. His mind still trying to wrap around everything. Eventually, the silence got to be too much though, even for Minho.

~

“So what do you angels do up here for fun?” Jeongin asked. He was currently lounging in one of Woojin’s desk chairs, feet propped up on the table in front of him, tossing up a glowing glass orb over and over again. Woojin looked at his propped up feet with distaste.

Hyunjin shrugged, “Usually we don’t have much time to mess around up here. I’ve been in the human realm for so long now too.”

Woojin stood up finally, walking past Jeongin so the demon was forced to put his legs down. “Why don’t you guys do a scoping of the human realm? Try to get a reading of where Changbin is? I’ll go down to Hell and see if Chan has seen or heard anything.”

“Felix disappeared not too long ago, we don’t know where he went, but where ever it was, he didn’t look too happy about going there.” Seungmin piqued up from his seat next to Jeongin. The demon had settled to resting his feet in Seungmin’s lap instead, though the human didn’t seem to care. He placed his arms over the demon’s legs, Jeongin smiling contently. Like even just a little touch from Seungmin was heavenly for him.

Hyunjin felt something swell up inside him. _Stop that, you will _not_ be jealous. You’re an angel, so act like one. _

“It’s not a long shot to say he went to Hell.” Hyunjin said instead.

Woojin nodded, “So it’s settled, I’ll go to Hell, and you can go to the human realm. Report back if you see anything. And be careful.” Woojin gave Hyunjin a meaningful look.

“Roger that!” Jeongin said, jumping up excitedly. “I’ve only been to the human realm once, let’s go let’s go!”

“You’ve only been there once?” Hyunjin said, shocked.

Jeongin nodded, “Yup,” he said popping the p, “To save you.” And that shouldn’t have made Hyunjin’s heart skip a beat, especially since just a second ago he was jealous—_not jealous_—of the other, but the demon’s eyes were shining and fuck if Hyunjin didn’t think it was adorable. _For a demon._

“Alright, let your resident human show you the way.” Seungmin pushed Jeongin’s legs off of him, the demon pouting at the action. Seungmin held out both hands for the other two to take. “I certainly can’t teleport, so it’s gonna have to be one of you.”

“Oh! Me! Me!” Jeongin said, grabbing Seungmin’s hand enthusiastically.

Hyunjin rolled his eyes at the younger. “Fine, let the demon do it. You better not drop us in the ocean though.”

“Relax, I’ll do us one better.” Jeongin’s crazy grin was making Hyunjin uncomfortable, but before he could say anything, the three blinked out of existence.

~

It was Woojin’s voice, sounding worried and angry as he bent in front of the angel examining him for injuries. Suddenly, all the angels in the room gave a roar, surging towards them and the mirror. Hyunjin whipped around to see Jeongin trying to _break_ the mirror.

Hyunjin gasped, Fire was still pouring from Jeongin’s hands. He was still in full demon form, his dark blue skin bled with Hellfire, little curling horns he hadn’t noticed before were poking out of his black hair, a plume of smoke spread out around him. The angels reared back at the sight, all staring wide eyed at the demon literally melting one of the sacred nine portals of Heaven. Though there was nothing sacred about that particular portal. The darker side of Hyunjin wanted said _Let him destroy it, I want to watch it burn._

“Jeongin! STOP!” Woojin yelled. He was the only one brave enough to move towards the demon. Jeongin turned around before the angel could reach him. Hellfire streaked down his blue cheeks like teardrops.

“I can’t—I can’t stop.” Jeongin said in dismay. Hellfire continued to pour from his hands, the drops started to spread across the floor, soon the entire room would be engulfed in flames. Hyunjin scrambled to stand up.

“Get everyone out of here!” Woojin yelled back at his angels, some hesitated, like they wanted to stay and fight, but Woojin gave them all his infamous leader look and they scrambled to comply. Hyunjin quickly ran over to Seungmin, helping the human up, when he heard Woojin yell in pain. Hyunjin turned quickly to see the angel’s palms were a bright fiery red, Hellfire had burned them.

“Just go! Leave me, _please_.” Jeongin pleaded, turning his fiery gaze from Woojin, to Hyunjin and Seungmin, who were frozen in their spots, staring in shock at the demon. “I don’t want to hurt you.” Jeongin’s voice cracked. He’d stepped away from the mirror, but the portal was already gone, and fire still burned across his skin.

“No,” Woojin gritted out, “I promised Chan I’d take you back home.” His hands held limp in front of him, Hyunjin could only imagine the pain the angel was in. Being burned by Hellfire was worse than normal fire to angels. Even a little drop could make you feel like you’re entire body was being burned alive. How Jeongin was able to harness Hellfire, Hyunjin didn’t know, nor could he quite wrap his mind around what was happening.

“Jeongin, stop burning.” Seungmin said, like it was the simplest solution to their problems. And it would be, but clearly, Jeongin couldn’t control the flames.

“I’m trying Seungminie, but it _just won’t stop._” The Hellfire tears flowed faster, which was not helping any of their problems.

“Jeongin, Innie, you can do it. I believe in you.” Hyunjin didn’t know where the words came from, but he spoke from his heart. Jeongin turned to him now, eyes scrunched in fear. Hyunjin thought it was a horrible expression to see on the demon. He never wanted to see Jeongin in fear ever again.

“Innie, we’re here for you. We’re not going anywhere.” Seungmin said, planting his feet firmly to make his point. Jeongin closed his eyes, the fire still continued to burn, Hyunjin was starting to worry they just all might go up in flames—but they didn’t. The fire started to dissipate, steam rolling off the demon in waves. The trails of Hellfire across the Looking Glass floor was turning to smoke, hot red liquid no longer. The three watched in awe as the Hellfire receded, slowly but surely, until all that was felt were the melted remains of the portal they’d gone through, and a few charred mirror frames of nearby portals.

Jeongin teetered, slumping to the floor, but Hyunjin was faster, surging forward to catch the demon boy before he fell. The three remaining stood in the silence of the aftermath.

“Woojin, your hands—” Hyunjin started, from this angle, he could see the angel’s blistered palms, skin boiling in nasty welts that made squeamish Hyunjin kind of want to throw up. The lead angel tried to hide his hands from view.

“I’m fine,” Woojin said, voice strained, “I’ll get someone to heal me, but you need to take Jeongin back to Chan.” It wasn’t an option, it was a direct order. Hyunjin nodded once, Seungmin came to grab hold of one of Hyunjin’s hands.

“I’m coming with you.” The human spoke softly, but determined. Hyunjin heart swelled, he was so proud of Seungmin. He’d been to the darkest corners of their many realms, and yet was still his strong, brave Seungmin. _My Seungminie, I would do anything for you. _

~

The three blinked out of the Looking Glass room, leaving Woojin to survey the aftermath. He was trying hard but failing to ignore the pain he was currently in. He wondered if even his best healers would be able to help him, at least they might be able to stop the pain. 

The alarm had finally stopped blaring at some point, encasing the room in a deathly silence now that it was just Woojin. The portal to District 9 was completely broken. Heaven would be in s a state of disarray for a while now. No one had ever traveled through that particular portal before. No one had expected any of the portals to be destroyed. Woojin would have to deal with the repercussions. It was obvious to any in the room that Jeongin, a demon, had been there, but what was that power? Woojin had never seen anything quite like it before in all his years as an angel. And it scared him.

He wondered what the three of them were doing in District 9, but whatever it was, it couldn’t have been good. District 9 was where souls went to die, where shadow creatures knew a little too much about the fate of others, and did anything they could to haggle a deal.

However, one thing about the shadow creatures, Woojin knew was true, was that they were rarely ever wrong.

~

Felix had escaped to the human realm for a bit. Heaven sometimes got suffocating with all the self-righteous angels twittering about. Felix was tired of putting up a front, he needed a change.

He wasn’t sure where he was going, but somehow he had ended up here. Of course, he had, for when his mind is distracted, his heart knows where to go.

He gazed up at Casa Di Giulietta, a girl was currently reciting something off of Juliet’s balcony. Felix sat down on a bench to watch.

It was in the middle of the day, so there were plenty of people milling about the courtyard. It seemed, tourists and locals alike. There was a reason Felix had liked this place so much, asides from the rustic, old architecture he adored, asides from the uncanny resemblance between Romeo and Juliet and his own love story, it was the feeling of the place. The immense sense of love and emotion that swirled around the place. People’s thoughts echoed around in his head. Some of infatuation, some of heartbreak, all of which Felix deemed important.

There were many sides to love after all, it was such a complicated thing, though he wished it was simple.

Changbin had been gone for about a year now, and Felix hadn’t quite been able to bring himself back to this spot. Too aware of how much this place was tied in his memories solely to Changbin. He’d only come once, once when Changbin hadn’t shown up in a month. It wasn’t like the demon to go MIA for that long, he always came back for Felix, or Felix for him, but that time—he hadn’t. Felix had gone on a wild goose chase all over the human realm, and even Hell, only to turn up nothing. Changbin wasn’t at any of their frequented spots, and when Chan and Jisung didn’t even know where he was—Felix had gone into straight panic.

He hadn’t been able to hide it from Woojin anymore. When the angel asked him what was wrong, Felix broke down, spilling everything about his relationship with Changbin to the older. And to his surprise, Woojin was only understanding, wasn’t one ounce of disgusted by Felix and Changbin’s relationship at all.

Felix had asked him why, to which Woojin only shrugged, saying he hated the stigma between angels and demons too. Demons were an important aspect to the balance of the world, and who was to say that all demons were inherently bad, or all angels good?

Felix’s eyes teared up then, the girls emotional voice now background static to Felix’s ears. His own thoughts getting the better of him. He stood up before his tears could fall. Going to distract himself by the letter wall.

~

Hyunjin woke up feeling warm, like he was wrapped in the comfiest of blankets, and he never wanted to leave. He blinked into the morning sunlight, something shifting at his side. He turned to see Seungmin sleeping softly, face inches apart from Hyunjin’s. The angel smiled, his eyes crinkling to the point he could hardly see. Seungmin was beautiful, ethereal himself, yet his boyish charm still shining through. Hyunjin reached out with a tentative hand, scared of disturbing the sleeping boy, and brushed aside some stands of hair that was falling into his face. Seungmin stirred, letting out a little noise of content when Hyunjin couldn’t help his fingers as they traced down the boy’s face, smoothing through his eyebrows, tracing past the curve of his eyes, over his cheekbones, and finally, to his pink lips. Lips Hyunjin had thought about kissing for years.

He wasn’t sure when he realized he loved Seungmin more than just a charge, more than even best friends. He yearned for Seungmin whenever the younger wasn’t around him. Whenever Seungmin would hug him, or lean on him, or lace his arm through Hyunjin’s, the angel found himself wanting more. He always wanted more with Seungmin, it was thought like these that he finally had to admit he was in love with Seungmin, many years ago.

“Hyung?” A small voice came from his other side. Hyunjin flipped around to see Jeongin’s wide black eyes staring at him. Maybe before he’d have found it slightly disturbing, the demon’s eyes were so starkly black, almost shining in their intensity. Like a black abyss, staring into his soul. His dark blue skin looked brighter in the morning, or perhaps it was just a trick of the morning light. Though he was completely different from anything Hyunjin had ever though he would love, Jeongin was beautiful.

Hyunjin smiled at the demon, “Good morning, Innie.” He said, running a hand through the demon’s hair affectionately. When he went to pull his hand away, Jeongin caught his wrist, keeping the angel’s hand in his hair as he butted his head against it. Hyunjin laughed, sure he had demonic cat genes in him somewhere. Jeongin gave a little pleased smile that spoke measures.

Hyunjin reached out with his other hand, the hand currently petting his hair falling to cup his cheeks. Jeongin gave him the same innocent wide-eyed stare, but Hyunjin came to know it was anything but innocent. He brought their faces closer, closer, until there was nothing left to do but kiss. The demon’s lips danced with the angel’s beautifully, moving in sensual patterns, a small smacking noise filled the quiet room.

“You guys are having fun without me?” Seungmin whined, plopping himself on top of Hyunjin petulantly. Hyunjin laughed into Jeongin’s mouth. Pulling Seungmin closer without breaking contact with Jeongin. The demon moaned when the angel only licked into his mouth harder.

Seungmin didn’t need to be told twice, joining in tentatively at first. It was a little weird, sharing a three-way kiss, but they somehow managed. Hyunjin wondered why they hadn’t done this before.

All three were tangled together, a mix of pale and dark blue skin. Through the early morning light, there was only love, shared between three beings from different worlds. The worlds they grew up with may have shaped them into who they were today, but the presence of each other was what made it worthwhile. Hyunjin sighed happily in between his lovers, he couldn’t imagine life going forward without either of them. He wondered how he’d lived thus far without them, without this feeling that was so strong he felt like he might just burst at the seams.

Seungmin suddenly jerked back when the demon had accidently bitten a little too hard on Seungmin’s lip. The human started giggling at the dramatic hurt look on the demons face, coming in immediately to kiss the look away. Hyunjin, not wanting to be left out of the loop, pushed Seungmin over so he was straddling the human. Seungmin yelped, staring up at Hyunjin with wide eyes. The angel smirked down at him, causing the younger to gulp.

“You do realize, you’re the maknae in this relationship.” Hyunjin teased, leaning low so his breath fanned against Seungmin’s neck. The human gasped at the feel.

“Th—that’s not fair, Jeo—ngin,” He struggled to get to words out when Hyunjin and Jeongin both attacked his neck with licks and love bites. “Looks like a baby.” He finished, out of breath though they’d hardly begun.

Jeongin laughed, “This baby is 117 years old, _Seungie_.” he said the nickname teasingly. Seungmin whined at the loss of Jeongin’s lips on his neck, pulling the demon back down to kiss him feverishly.

Hyunjin took the opportunity to rip Seungmin’s shirt quite literally in half, exposing his chest.

“Hyunjin!” He yelped when cold air hit his chest.

“What?” The angel smirked at him, “It was more efficient. Don’t worry baby, I can fix it all better later.” He muttered into Seungmin’s chest, the human arching into his touch. “So sensitive, baby.”

“O—only with you two.” Seungmin breathed, Jeongin’s tongue traced along his lips, not quite pushing in. Seungmin whined in want. “Please, Innie—”

“That’s _hyung_ to you.” The demon said, biting Seungmin on his bottom lip. The human gasped, Hyunjin smirking at the demon’s words. He liked the spunk Jeongin had.

“H—yung,” Seungmin said, voice barely audible since Jeongin swallowed all sounds Seungmin made with his lips.

Hyunjin was currently tracing his own lips down Seungmin’s torso, the human squirming constantly under his hold. So much so Hyunjin decided to put a stop to it. Holding out a hand to do the trick. Seungmin jerked his head up to look down at Hyunjin when he found he couldn’t move a muscle below his neck. 

“Is this okay, Minnie?” Hyunjin asked, needing to make sure the boy was alright with Hyunjin extorting some powers on him. Seungmin nodded frantically.

“Just, get on with it.” He said. Hyunjin tsked, running teasing fingers up and down his chest,

“So impatient.” He said, Jeongin wove his way around Hyunjin to get to Seungmin’s pants, the angel letting him slid them off the boy.

~

He walked through the bars, hoping that Changbin would shed more light on the subject, but right when he did, Felix’s head whipped up. The two stared at each other. Jisung was the first to crack, “You—you can see me?” He asked, voice sounding weird and wavy through his ears.

“You’re astral projecting, aren’t you?” Felix asked, Jisung could only nod.

“What—what’s going on?” He asked, looking at Changbin, who was looking back and forth between Felix and Jisung curiously from the ground. Clearly he couldn’t see Jisung, and he was somewhat ashamed to find he was relieved at that.

“I don’t know, but it’s not good. This isn’t at all what I was expecting to find.” Felix looked down at Changbin, caressing his cheek gently.

“Who are you talking to, Lixie?” Changbin ask. Felix continued stroking his matted hair, shaking his head at the question.

“Binnie—what’s going on? What happened to you?” Felix asked.

Changbin shook his head, “It was a shapeshifter, Lix. It has been the whole time. I don’t know what he’s done, but based on snippets I’ve heard, I know it’s not good. And the jackass has been parading around with _my_ face on him.” Changbin grumbled, fists clenching in Felix’s shirt.

Jisung’s mind was reeling, he stepped back in shock. Changbin, _his_ Changbin had been here the whole time? And what had they done to help him? _Nothing, nothing at all. You’ve left him to rot here while an impostor took his place and you did nothing._

“You mean—you’ve been here the whole time? The Changbin who killed those angels, it wasn’t you?” Felix asked.

Changbin’s eyes grew wide, “That’s what he did? Killed angels?” Changbin asked incredulously, angrily. It was him who wiped the tears away from Felix’s face now, though leaving a trail of dirt behind, across the angel’s freckled cheeks. Felix caught his wrist, bringing it to his heart.

“I’m so _sorry_ Binnie, I—”

But Jisung didn’t wait around to hear the rest of Felix’s words. For a scream sounded then, a voice all too familiar causing his blood to freeze over at the sound. _Minho._

Jisung whipped towards the sound of the scream, trying to figure out where it was coming from. It sounded distant, not near enough to be coming from the cells.

“You’ll take care of him, right?” Jisung asked Felix hurriedly. Felix nodded in response.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got him.”

And with that, Jisung took off running, Gyu bouncing in one hand as he ran with all he had towards the sound of the screaming, the screaming that grew louder and more desperate as it went on.

Everything was a blur, the only thing Jisung could focus on what following the sound of Minho’s screams, hoping he wasn’t too late, hoping he could _save him._

He came into a clearing of sorts, vaguely registering that he was in a forest. The screams were agonizingly loud now, Jisung almost wanted to plug his ears as they rang in his eardrums. He staggered closer, through stone pillars, disgusted and horrified by the sight.

There was Minho, tied down on the table, long, thin metal spikes protruded from his temples, from his forehead. Blood streamed down his face in ringlets, eyes shut tight in pain.

Jisung gasped, tears welling in his own eyes as he took in the scene. There was Changbin, or _fake_ Changbin, as it was now clear to Jisung. He wondered how he’d ever mistaken that monster for his best friend. There was no way in Heaven or Hell that Changbin could ever be that cruel, and Jisung should have known it.

He staggered forward, closer and closer to Minho, wanting to refuse everything he was seeing, but he couldn’t. Like a train wreck, he couldn’t look away.

“Minho,” He breathed out once he’d reached his charge’s side. He reached out a hand to touch Minho, he wanted to provide him some comfort, he wanted to save him, take him away from all the pain and never let him leave his sight ever again. He wanted to kill the shapeshifter, more than he’d ever wanted to hurt anyone ever before. His eyes turned red as he turned towards the monster, whose eyes were filled fill sadistic glee.

Jisung went to punch him, a little part of him knew it wouldn’t do anything, he was astral projecting after all, but he couldn’t leave Minho like this, he needed to do _something_. Before his fist made contact however, the shapeshifter’s hand shot out, somehow closing around Jisung’s astral form. The demon stared at the shapeshifter, watery eyes filled with disbelief. The shapeshifter looked indifferent as he looked right at Jisung, but Jisung’s wrist was starting to burn. He grunted, trying to pull away, but the shapeshifter hold was tight. He tilted his head at Jisung, as if examining him for the first time.

Before either of them could do anything else, a portal opened up behind them, and a demon radiating power walked out. Jisung gaped at the sight, he knew who that was. Lucifer himself waltzed over, closer to them like he had all the time in the world.

“You can stop the theatrics, Epaphras, you wanted me, well, here I am.” Lucifer spread his arms like an invitation. Though Jisung doubted what he wanted was a hug. The shapeshifter’s grip on Jisung fell, and he quickly jerked his arm away.

“Lucifer, finally. I’ve been waiting for this moment.” The shapeshifter said with barely contained glee. “I have something of yours, and in exchange I want something back from you.”

Lucifer looked at Minho, who was still withering in pain, though his screams had stopped. Little sobs escaped his lips, and Jisung wanted nothing more than to reach out and save him. Lucifer’s eyes drifted up to see Jisung then, and Jisung was starting to think perhaps astral projection didn’t make someone as invisible as he believed it would.

“You, I know you. Tell Chan that the morning is only as bright as the star.”

Before Jisung could so much as blink, a flick of Lucifer’s wrist sent him spiraling into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading this story and giving it so much love!!!  
And thanks so much for all your kudos and comments, I truly enjoyed reading them all :') ♡
> 
> Edit: Part 2 is now up! So feel free to keep on reading heheh 😉🥰
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/dyoityourself)


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